Rebecca Weber Wins the Iota Sigma Pi 2008 Members-At-Large Award!
5/16/08
Rebecca Weber is the recipient of the 2008 MAL Educational Re-entry Award. The award is given to a woman who is returning to school after an extended absence and has excellent academic potential.
Rebecca is a non-traditional student returning to school after a 6-year hiatus. Her time away from the classroom proved to her that in order to move ahead and have the life she wants for her and her family she would need to return to school to obtain a college degree. Both she and her husband returned to school full-time in the fall of2005. They balance their educational commitments and care of their 4 year-old daughter with volunteerism and extra curricular activities.
Rebecca started as a secondary science education major; however after a few chemistry courses, she knew that she had a real passion for chemistry and was "hooked." She changed her major to chemistry with a minor in physics and hopes to continue her studies in graduate school emphasis in physical chemistry. She says that, "there is nothing more interesting to me than being able to take a look at everything surrounding me and be able to describe why it acts the way it does, how it will react if brought into contact with another material, and what is happening on a quantum or atomic level as a reaction is taking place." Her love of learning extends to her desire to discover new concepts and explain them to others in such a way as to broaden their learning and interest in the material.
Outside of the classroom, Rebecca tutors chemistry and is involved in undergraduate research. She has chosen a research position in a computational lab versus a higher paying off-campus job. Rebecca has published and presented her research and has won several departmental awards. She also volunteers as a science fair judge, Science Olympiad coordinator, speaker to Girl Scouts about science and career choices and is president of SCUMS, the chemistry club for Southeastern Louisiana University students. She is a student affiliate of the ACS and local chapter ofIota Sigma Pi, a member of the Society for Physics Students, Society for Chemistry Undergraduates Majoring in Chemistry, the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. and Gamma Beta Phi.
Her professors describe Rebecca as dynamic, talented, and a noteworthy student of chemistry and an outstanding representative of Iota Sigma Pi. Rebecca faces greater challenges than most students yet she continues to excel. Her academic advisor is confident that Rebecca will complete her BS in chemistry and achieve a PhD.