Discovering Her Yes Moments: Ferguson student builds a future from passion
Friday, December 19, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
Finding your path as a student is no easy task, especially after moving around 20 times and transitioning directly from middle school to college courses.
Angelique Robinson’s college journey is anything but ordinary. Robinson, who grew up in Jollyville, Texas, attended a junior college in rural California at the age of 15 before transferring to Oklahoma State University at 17.
While at junior college, Robinson said she studied biology and worked at a private animal preserve in Point Arena, California, where she discovered her passion for animals.
After changing majors nine times at OSU, Robinson said she eventually settled on a dual major in entomology and psychology, with multiple minors and concentrations.
Throughout her time at OSU, Robinson received several research scholarships including the Niblack and Wentz Research Scholarships. She also participated in the Cambridge Scholars program and the Rural Scholars program through the Rural Renewal Initiative.
In 2025, Robinson was selected as a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient, one of three from OSU. This national scholarship aims to provide support for college sophomores and juniors with career interests in science, engineering and mathematics.
OSU conducts an internal competition before the national deadline. A standing campus committee reviews the applications and selects up to four institutional nominees to represent the university.
“The impact on the students who go through the process, whether they are selected or not, is the process of self-reflection,” said Cynda Clary, Ferguson College of Agriculture associate dean.
Robinson “embraced knowledge,” Clary said, adding, “You come in with an idea of what you want to do or where you want to go, or major you want to receive. And then, as you take courses, sometimes that shapes your journey in a different kind of way, and it definitely did for her.”
Robinson’s dedication to research started when her mother and brother were diagnosed with a rare terminal illness, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a slow paralysis that eventually affects the major organs, Robinson said.
After attending a medical conference in San Francisco, Robinson and her family learned Duchenne muscular dystrophy can predispose individuals to serious heart issues, Robinson said.
A big part of Robinson’s journey was figuring out whether she wants to study her family’s condition or study animals, which is her passion.
She combined her dedication and interests by working on multiple research projects throughout her time at OSU.
“I have not said no to any opportunity if I can help it. I have had the craziest research experiences,” Robinson said.
One of Robinson’s research projects involved performing open-heart surgery on neonatal mice to induce a heart attack and determine if the heart could heal itself. She was the only undergraduate student who successfully performed the surgery, she said.
“Slowly but surely, I got more confident in my surgery skills,” Robinson said. “It got me comfortable with being in the setting of anesthesia, surgery techniques, nursing the mice back to health and also monitoring the mice.”
With help from Jiyoung Bae, nutritional sciences assistant professor, Robinson and graduate students published a peer-reviewed journal article with Robinson as second author, Bae said.
“Angelique is very personable,” said Joshua Butcher, physiological sciences associate professor. “She’s a unique combination of articulate, bright and incredibly hard working.”
During Robinson’s junior year, she said she wanted to grow her research experience, which led her to apply for the Rural Scholars program.
By working with rural Oklahoma communities, Robinson researched the attitudes, knowledge and prevalence of exercise, nutrition and diabetes in these communities, Butcher said.
Robinson worked in communities in Latimer County and in Wilburton, Oklahoma, where she spent half of her time volunteering and connecting with the community, Butcher said. The other half was spent conducting research through a health and nutrition-related survey for adults in the area, he added.
“Ultimately, the long-term goal of our research is to increase the health span in patients,” Butcher said.
After volunteering, attending church and joining weekly movie nights with rural residents, Robinson said she realized her research needed further development.
“I didn’t want to stop with adults because every adult I was seeing at the food bank had a bunch of kiddos,” Robinson said. “I want to see this study be replicated in children, specifically high school students and college students, because they’re less able to advocate for themselves.”
Robinson and Butcher are currently working to create a survey for the younger population in their research efforts, Butcher said.
Expanding their research, Robinson and Butcher also intend to include survey questions regarding how frequently students exercise, their understanding of diabetes and carbohydrates, as well as perceived nutritional and exercise barriers, such as safety, accessibility, income and parental insight, Robinson said.
“I’m very happy she chose to take the original project and expand on it, which is a tremendous accomplishment for an undergraduate student,” Butcher said.
Robinson has presented her research efforts and findings at numerous conferences, including OSU symposiums, Niblack Symposium, Rural Renewal Symposium and the Oklahoma Capitol, she said. At one of Robinson’s first presentations, she said she met an evaluator who noticed she was unprepared for the presentation.
“That was the last time I was caught slacking,” Robinson said. “Everything he said was truthful. I just wasn’t able to defend the research properly.”
Over a year later, at a summer symposium, Robinson encountered that same evaluator.
This time, Robinson’s presentation was much better, she said, because she had found her footing in science and had grown.
Moving forward, the evaluator became Robinson’s student mentor through the Rural Scholars program, Robinson said.
After being nominated by OSU for the Goldwater Scholarship, Robinson joined other nominated student scholars from OSU for a retreat in Taos, New Mexico, she said.
“It was an amazing experience, but I did struggle a lot with comparing myself,” Robinson said. “I’m so glad I did this trip because I was able to really figure out what I wanted to do with my life and defend it.”
Throughout her time at the retreat, Robinson spoke with other students applying for the Truman Scholarship and Udall Scholarship and gained valuable insights from OSU professors, faculty and staff, she said.
As Robinson looks toward the future, her professional career plans consist of earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a doctorate in entomology at OSU, Robinson said. OSU allows students to obtain a DVM and a Ph.D. in the field of their choosing, which aided her career decision, Robinson said.
Story by: Cynthia McNally | Cowboy Journal