Being a highly involved and motivated high school student has allowed Olivia Norbut, class of 2024, to achieve even greater success during her time at Wittenberg.
Norbut is the recipient of both the Special Interest Award scholarship granted by the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement and a First Year Research Award (FYRA) in biology.
鈥淚 knew I wanted to go to Wittenberg, not just because it was my parents鈥� alma mater (Mark and Kim Norbut, both class of 1989), but also because of the many opportunities to become involved while receiving a hands-on, prestigious education,鈥� Norbut said.
Hailing from Grove City, Ohio, Norbut, who is a biochemistry/molecular biology major pursuing minors in neuroscience and psychology, also earned a First-Year Research Award (FYRA) after being accepted to Wittenberg.
鈥淚 remember looking at the different scholarship awards available from Wittenberg for first-year college students and came across the FYRA in addition to the Special Interest Scholarship, and I realized that the two could be combined,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was unlike any opportunity that other universities had to offer. I decided to apply for the FYRA in biology because I knew it would be a very valuable program as it would allow me to gain research experience in my first year of college. At most larger public institutions, it is unlikely that first-year students have the chance to work alongside a faculty member and engage in research, so the FYRA set Wittenberg apart from other schools.鈥�
Norbut recognized the impact FYRA would have on any future career goals, as will the experience she has gained thus far into her junior year. To date, she has already presented research at two different conferences 鈥� a virtual one for the Midbrains-mGluRs Joint Neuroscience on Oct. 23, 2021, and the second, more recent one, at an in-person conference called the Midwest & Great Lakes Undergraduate Research Symposium in Neuroscience (mGluRs) hosted by Baldwin Wallace University. The work she began with FYRA her freshman year has since turned into an ongoing project Norbut continues to research and will ultimately contribute to her departmental honors thesis focused on neuroscience.
鈥淲ithout FYRA, I would not have had the opportunity to develop autonomy in the lab and ultimately have the confidence and motivation to apply for a summer research project following my first year (2021),鈥� she said. 鈥淚 knew the FYRA would end after my first year, and I did not want that to mark the end of my time doing research in the lab because I en