Typical freshmen are usually just starting to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Typical freshmen aren’t usually a Gates Millennium Scholar. Shauntel Pearson is anything but a typical freshman.

“I’ve always dreamt about college. I’ve always looked at the big picture. Even when I was little, I knew I wanted to be a doctor. That’s what my main focus has been over the years,” she said. “I excel as a student because I love to learn. I have a passion to learn, and so all these years of school have been relatively easy for me because learning is just what I like to do.”

School may have been relatively easy for Pearson, a bioengineering/pre-med major, but becoming a Gates Millennium Scholar was considerably more difficult. With more than 100,000 applicants, the Gates Millennium Scholarship program only selects 1,000 winners per ethnic group to win the through-graduation scholarship. 

“There’s actually a lot of winners, but considering there’s hundreds of thousands of people who apply, a thousand is not that much,” Pearson said.

After submitting financial and academic records, applicants for the Gates Millennium Scholarship must go through an extensive essay-writing process.

“It’s a long process. You have to write like eight different essays, I believe, about various topics,” Pearson said. “It is pretty much just to learn about you because they have requirements like GPA and stuff like that, so they know you’re a strong person academically. It’s more to see what your strengths and weaknesses are. I think that’s what an essay is about right there, your strengths and weaknesses. They also ask about different leadership opportunities you’ve taken and just about obstacles that you’ve faced and how you overcame those different obstacles.”

Whatever obstacles Pearson may have faced in her life, she isn’t letting them stop her from achieving her dream to be an orthopedic surgeon. She said she hopes to work in prosthetics in some capacity, and is especially interested in how joints work.

“It is really cool, and it might seem a little lame, but looking at a knee joint is so cool. I think that is an amazing thing. A prosthetic knee joint and all that, that is so cool,” she said. 

An influencing factor on Pearson’s desire to be a doctor is the Upward Bound Math Science program. She has participated since her freshman year of high school and says the director of that program, Kaye Monk-Morgan, has helped her achieve many goals.

“She is always pushing me. She knows my potential. She always pushes me and that has been great and has really helped in my success,” she said. 

“While I would like to take credit for who she is becoming … I have a front row seat to watch,” Monk-Morgan said. “Shauntel is the perfect TRIO UBMS student. She had talent, drive, curiosity and a host of other great qualities before she applied to the program, we just provided her with the medium to grow. She is one of the most determined students I have ever worked with.  Shauntel makes a plan and works the plan. She is driven to succeed and works daily, in spite of barriers, to do so. Never one to give up, there have been times when my advice to Shauntel has been to ‘dial it down a notch.’ She is always looking forward and planning her next move, she is working on learning how to enjoy her accomplishments while not resting on her laurels.”

It is that drive that got Pearson to apply for the Gates Millennium Scholarship. 

“Most people think, ‘Oh, there’s only one winner out of all these different applicants,’ so that’s kind of nerve-wracking considering that it’s a national scholarship that anybody can apply for,” she said. “So I took the chance. I really was very skeptical about applying for it, but I decided it never hurts to try, so I applied for it anyway and I just happened to win, which was fantastic. It was more than I could ever imagine.”

It might be surprising that the winner of such a prestigious scholarship ended up at her local university. Pearson is a graduate of Northeast Magnet in Wichita and has grown up around Wichita State. When it came time to decide on a college, Pearson knew WSU was the place for her.

“WSU is actually a really strong school compared to a lot of schools, especially in Kansas,” she said. “WSU just seemed like a good place, and everybody is so friendly at WSU, it’s ridiculous. I just like the environment. You get such diversity, and it’s close to home, but the environment on campus makes you feel like you’re on an adventure. So I don’t necessarily feel bored, like I don’t have anything to do. I’m on campus and I’m having a good time. It’s actually pretty great.”

On the outside, being excited for her freshman year, ready to get involved on campus, Pearson may seem like any other new student. What sets her apart is her drive and the challenges and opportunities she has already faced.

“Shauntel makes her life look easy. It isn’t. She works hard. She makes uncommon choices and usually warrants uncommon results,” Monk-Morgan said. “Did you know that she is already campaigning for the presidency in 2026? She has a plan; she is working the plan, and I will be casting my vote for her when she is on the ballot.” 

“I’m a first-generation college student and I also came from a single-parent background,” Pearson said. “People don’t really see high success rates in that particular demographic. Over the years I’ve just been trying to prove that you can make it from all these different, diverse types of backgrounds, and I would say I’ve been successful. It definitely hasn’t been the easiest journey, but getting this far, I’ve made it to college; it really, really makes me feel accomplished. It makes me feel like I’ve done a lot so far, to be 18 years old and already say that I’ve done so much.”