Michelle Show, a member of the Assiniboine tribe and a senior in
microbiology, was chosen from all the American Indian students at
all the tribal colleges, universities and colleges in Montana and
Wyoming, said John Watts, associate director of the American
Indian Research Opportunities (AIRO) program at MSU.
"It's a pretty high honor in Indian education and the Indian
community," Watts said. Show has already garnered a long list of
awards during her years at MSU. Just last spring, at the MSU
annual Day of Student Recognition, she received the Septemviri,
which identifies the top seven students in the upcoming senior
class and the Harrison, which is also given to top upcoming
seniors. She was named to the Mortar Board honor society, as
well.
In other venues, Show was named the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding
Junior and the Microbiology Outstanding Junior in 2000. She
belongs to several national honor societies and has been involved
in research since 1996. Her many activities have included
developing websites on "Cancer Among Native Americans" and
"Diabetes Among Native Americans."
"There's no secret, really," Show said last spring as the awards
kept coming. "I work really, really hard."
She also praised her mother, Gail, a single mother who instilled
responsibility and a strong work ethic in Michelle and her
sister, Jennifer.
"Some of my earliest memories when I was a little girl are of my
mother studying at our kitchen table when she was going to school
down here," Show said. "She always told us that if we wanted to
better ourselves, we needed an education. And she told us that
there were people watching us and (if they see us achieving),
they might want to come out and do some things to help, too."
After graduation this spring, Show plans to attend medical
school. She has been accepted into WWAMI, a regional medical
program that refers to Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and
Idaho. She eventually plans to become a family practitioner on an
Indian reservation.
"There is such a need for doctors there," she said, repeating the
goal voiced by many Native American students that she wants to
return and give back to her people. "The people back home are
very supportive. They already call me 'Dr. Show' and tell me they
want to be my first patient or that they'll send a lot of people
to me."
