MORGANTOWN — Three students at West Virginia University have qualified as finalists for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
Emma Harrison and Andrea Petit, both of Morgantown, and Ginny Thrasher of Springfield, Virginia will representing WVU in the Rhodes District XI Committee of Selection interviews in Chicago November 16-17. It’s the first time in history the university has had three students advance to the final 15. After the interviews, two will be selected for the scholarship to study abroad at Oxford University in England. The Rhodes Scholarship provides all expenses for two to four years of study at the University of Oxford in England. All three women are students in the WVU Honors College.
“All three are exceptional young women in their own way, study in three different colleges at the university, and reveal the many different paths to success at WVU,” said Katherine Aaslestad professor of history and faculty advisor for the Rhodes Scholarship in a release. ” It is a pleasure to work with these remarkable young women and the ASPIRE Office”
Harrison is WVU’s 23rd Truman Scholar and a Newman Civic Fellow. She was named to those earlier this year for advocacy for prison education and reform. If she is awarded the scholarship, her goal is to earn a doctorate of philosophy in criminology. At WVU, she is majoring in political science and multidisciplinary studies.
Pettit has a passion for rural medicine out of her concern for the lack of access to quality medical care in remote parts of West Virginia. She’s studying to be a physician, but has volunteered hundreds of hours in a local hospital.
She’s also a member of the cross country and track and field teams. At WVU she is majoring in immunology and medical microbiology in the School of Medicine. If she is awarded the scholarship, she plans to earn two master’s degrees in integrated immunology and primary healthcare. She also wants to learn more about the U.K.’s National Health Service to see how the U.S. can make structural improvements to improve access to care especially in rural areas.
Thrasher, who is best known for her prowess as a member of the WVU Rifle Team, is earning a degree in bio medical engineering.
“A lot of really great candidates don’t make it to the finals. We’re all just really excited for this opportunity. ” said Thrasher who earned the first gold medal of the 2016 Olympics in Rio in Women’s 10m air rifle.
She plans to use the scholarship to advance her study of growth mindset concepts.
“I’d like to apply what I’ve learned in athletics which is growth mindset,” she explained on Metronews Talkline. “It’s a mindset that say, ‘I believe my level of ability and talent can change with effort.’”
Thrasher says it’s a much more complicated concept than most believe, but also one which mastered that can be extremely rewarding. She hopes to find ways to help more people achieve the rewards.
Regardless of whether she is selected for the Rhodes Scholarship or not, Thrasher said she still plans to continue to shoot and will work to make the 2020 U.S. Olympic shooting team.
