Elizabeth Mullins, 31

Talala, OK
Biology Environmental Science
Magna Cum Laude

“I’ve learned in life that it’s most important to be grateful for what you have and to always see the good even in the most difficult of situations.”

By Carmen Price, University Communications and Marketing

There were those who believed she didn’t have it in her. She spent her early school years in special education classes and speech therapy. While others in her class were reading, she was trying to decipher the difference between a ‘g’ and a ‘j’.

But, when life knocked her down, Elizabeth Mullins reached for the stars. She dreamt of learning 16 languages, becoming a scientist and FBI agent, a paratrooper fighter pilot who would jump out of planes to provide medical care to people in third world countries.

“I think if any of us were to sit back and listen to our childhood check-list of all the amazing things we were determined to do, we would be humbled,” Elizabeth said. “I accept that I may never be the best at any single one thing. However, if I can do well in a lot of different areas, then I will have the benefit of helping more people in a wider array of areas—whether through research, medical care or flying a helicopter into a remote location.”

Today, the 30-year-old from Talala, Okla., will graduate with honors and a degree in biology from Montana State University Billings, where she is the school’s first and only Goldwater Scholar. Soon after commencement, she will head to the Mid-west where she will begin medical school at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri.

Recognized for achieving those high marks, she is one of this year’s recipient of the MSU Billings Outstanding Senior Awards.

“If life had been easy, I’m not sure if I would have invested so much of myself into trying to make the world into a more livable place,” Elizabeth said. “I may not have seen the hunger and need in the communities in which I’ve lived. Adversity is a unifying theme in our lives that teaches us to look beyond our individual experiences, and to appreciate our common struggle.”

Elizabeth has been setting the bar at high levels in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences since she was a freshman. She serves as the Biological Society student club president, while also active in the Chemistry and Pre-medical clubs. Off-campus, she volunteers with Billings Clinic, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and with Sandstone Elementary School.

She began as a research assistant for Dr. Kurt Toenjes her sophomore year and subsequently was awarded with the Third Biennial Western Regional IDeA Conference Best-in-Presentation Award.

Before enrolling into MSUB in 2011, Elizabeth served with the United States Navy as a medical corpsman at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. Following two deployments and nine years of service, she left active duty to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

“My own experiences with adversity as a child and then later as an adult have helped define my purpose to effect positive change in my community and around the globe,” she said. “I’ve learned in life that it’s most important to be grateful for what you have and to always see the good even in the most difficult of situations.”