Power in the process: Enhancing academic futures through fellowship applications

Receiving a prestigious fellowship or scholarship has more value than just a financial reward, as students find empowerment in the application process.

Natalia Beans has been in cancer remission since she was four years old, but her time spent in hospitals and treatment as a young child left an indelible mark on her spirit. Now a senior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, she has found her purpose and aims for a future working at the forefront of cancer research. 

Natalia Beans

As a 2025 recipient of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a program that seeks to identify, encourage and financially support students in STEM fields who show exceptional promise of becoming the next generation of research leaders in these fields, Beans has been able to edge closer to her career goal. 

“One of the biggest things the Goldwater Scholarship gave me was the ability to devote more attention to my education, research and professional development without having as much financial stress hanging over me,” Beans says. “Having that additional support allowed me to focus more fully on becoming a stronger student and researcher.” 

Beans emphasizes that being a Goldwater Scholar has opened doors beyond the financial award itself. “It has strengthened my confidence when pursuing research opportunities and graduate school, and it has connected me to a larger community of students who are passionate about scientific research.” 

From 2020-26, Marquette University has had several prestigious fellowship and scholarship applicants and recipients. While some of the awards below are for post-graduate programs, many are available to students as early as their first year on campus. 

Fellowships by the numbers: 

  • 27 Fulbright semi-finalists 
  • 18 Gilman Scholarship recipients 
  • 7 Fulbright awardees 
  • 1 Goldwater recipient 
  • 1 Fulbright UK Summer Institutes participant 
  • 1 National Science Foundation-GRFP recipient 
  • Several prestigious summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program participants 

Top five early career awards to explore: 

Value in the application process 

Dr. Karalee Surface, experiential learning and prestigious fellowships coordinator, hopes students applying for awards like the Goldwater Scholarship value the growth that comes from the application process, not just the financial boost or hands-on experience. 

“We put a real emphasis on the process being especially valuable to the student and not just the results,” Surface says. “The results are great, but the process is really what we try to emphasize with students. They’re going to continue to tell their story to all kinds of people: different stakeholders, graduate admissions boards and job interviewers.” 

Surface helps students like Beans, across all colleges at Marquette, discover fellowship opportunities and prepare them to be competitive applicants. “When students sit down and apply for one of these fellowship opportunities, they take the time to engage in Ignatian discernment and think about why they’ve done the things they’ve done, how they connect that to the world and how they understand themselves in the world.” 

Students looking for fellowships or scholarships should start with the Fellowship Finder. Surface will help identify opportunities tailored to their goals and identify activities to build a strong application. 

“I work with students from the discovery stage all the way through drafting their application and reviewing and prepping for interviews that they might have if they advance to finalists or semi-finalists,” Surface says. “There’s the exploratory piece of my fellowships advising, and then there is the logistical advising piece when students are actually ready to tackle one of these applications.” 

The preparation and application process looks different for everyone — sometimes it’s a series of workshop sessions, and other times it’s an individual process. Either way, Surface suggests that students start conversations about these opportunities early in their academic careers. 

For Beans, the value of the scholarship wasn’t just in receiving the award, but the journey it took to get there. 

“Going through the Goldwater application process challenged me to articulate exactly why research mattered to me and what kind of scientist I wanted to become,” Beans says. “My experience as a childhood cancer survivor played an important role in that reflection. Surviving cancer initially sparked my interest in science and medicine, but my undergraduate research experiences ultimately showed me that research was where I felt most excited, curious and capable of making an impact.” 

Here are some ways students and faculty can get involved: 

Find more information on what scholarships to apply for and how to get the application process started HERE.