Kent State University at Ashtabula College Credit Plus (CCP) student Elizabeth Budy will be among those recognized by the Northeastern Ohio section of the American Chemistry Society (NEOACS) at its annual Young Scientist Awards on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
Budy, a junior at Jefferson Area High School, was nominated by Associate Professor of Chemistry Ann Abraham, Ph.D. in the College Chemistry Student Volunteer of the Year category.
“From the first week of fall semester, Liz has expressed interest in becoming a chemist,” Abraham said. “She began working with me every week, testing activities for our events, writing up experiment procedures and helping me with further preparations.”
Among those events were National Chemistry Week and Pi Day, as well as the STEM Science Day at Saint John School in February. Budy and members of her family volunteered for the entire NEOACS National Chemistry Week day event in October.
“I was very surprised and excited (to be nominated),” Budy said. “When Dr. Abraham first told me, I was speechless. I’m very honored; I have never been nominated for something like this and it’s very exciting to just be a part of it.”
Budy had not had a chemistry classes until arriving at Kent State Ashtabula in the fall as a first-time CCP student. But, she instantly took a liking to the science.
“Chemistry has become my favorite subject- as soon as I started it, I loved it,” she said. “I have always loved math and science, and there is a lot of math involved in chemistry. I also enjoy it because there is a lot of mystery to science in general.”
She looked to expand her knowledge and new-found passion by doing extra work with her instructor outside of class, which led to her volunteering with other projects.
“I started to do experiments with Dr. Abraham before or after classes to get more of a feel for the subject and I quickly developed more of a love for it once I started doing that,” said Budy.
She also serves as a tutor for Chemistry through the Academic Success Center.
Budy is currently taking two courses this semester at Kent State Ashtabula, but plans to attend the campus full-time starting in the fall. College Credit Plus is the statewide program that provides qualifying high school students the opportunity to earn college credit for free while still in high school.
Ultimately, she plans to pursue a degree in Cosmetic Science.
“Liz is truly a unique, motivated, excited student,” Abraham said. “She truly deserves to be recognized for her efforts."
The NEOACS Spring Young Scientist Award program annually recognizes outstanding local high school and college students, longtime ACS members and local section volunteers. This year’s event will be held virtually. The program centers around the theme of “Chemistry Celebrates Earth Week” and features a keynote address from Collin G. Moore, Ph.D., Director, Strategic Innovation/Open Innovation Studio for Global Research and Development at Avery Dennison.
Additional information on the Young Scientist Award can be found at https://neoacslocal.wixsite.com/neoacs/young-scientist-award.
To learn more about the College Credit Plus program at Kent State Ashtabula, visit www.kent.edu/ashtabula/ccp.
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