Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Miriam Carlson! Miriam has been selected to receive a 2019-2020 Frances B. Huston Medallion Award for the College of Social Sciences. This award is presented to only 20 graduating students each year who have a strong academic record and have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities at Eastern and in the community. For her field study experience, Miriam volunteered as a Housing Specialist at Family Promise, an emergency family shelter in Spokane. She connected guests with housing resources, created a resource center at the organization, and began an after-school homework club. She also built relationships with other community organizations and set up recurring monthly outreach meetings that catered to guests with little ones who found it challenging to travel around the city to gain access to resources. In connection with her work at Family Promise, Miriam joined the RESULTS advocacy group which works on long-term solutions to homelessness by looking at the root causes of poverty and through this has met and educated legislative aids regarding these issues. In addition, Miriam has helped provide childcare and learning services to 2nd and 3rd graders at Life Center for the past five years.
Beyond her exceptional community involvement, Miriam is an amazing scholar. She is a senior at EWU pursuing a BS in Applied Developmental Psychology, a BA in Psychology, and a minor in Communication. As a McNair Scholar, Miriam has committed to attaining her Ph.D. To prepare for this, Miriam completed a summer research internship at EWU under the mentorship of Dr. Aryn Zeihnert. She has continued research with Dr. Zeihnert and also does research with Dr. Charalambos C. Cleanthous. She presented her research at the EWU symposium and has been accepted to present her research at the Western Psychological Association conference in October 2020. She has been on the Dean's List at EWU since the Spring of 2017 and is a part of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. To read more about Miriam and her research check out her webpage on the McNair site.
Miriam was accepted to Gonzaga University's Education Specialist in School Psychology program and plans to both attend in the fall and continue her wonderful community work. McNair is so proud of Miriam and all of her hard work. We know she will have a continued powerful impact on academia and in her communities as she pursues a graduate education and beyond!
Congratulations Miriam .On my own behalf, on behalf of my family, (the Kiambati’s) and on behalf of deliverance church, Lang’ta, I take this opportunity to say that we are extremely proud of you. I have no doubt that you will complete the race you have started and will benefit many to the glory of God.