1/27/03

Katie Blackmar

AU STUDENT: FROM HOMESCHOOL TO MARSHALL SCHOLAR

AUBURN -- Katie Blackmar's journey has taken her down the road less traveled.

And it has led her to an academic Shangri-La.

Blackmar, a Cataula, Ga., native who will graduate from Auburn University in May with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, has been named one of 40 annual recipients of the Marshall Scholarship, second only in prestige to the Rhodes Scholarship.

Though neither the Marshall nor the Rhodes keep such information in their databases, it is clear that she is one of the few winners of the prestigious scholarships to have been homeschooled.

Fredrick and Debby Blackmar -- Katie's parents, both AU graduates -- made the decision to homeschool their children when Katie was in the seventh grade.

"Katie was not enjoying the school where she was and socially it was not a good situation," said Debby Blackmar. "I was spending a lot of time at home after school with one subject and we started to think about the idea. We decided we could do school in the morning and our kids could have their afternoons back. We brought them home and we have never regretted the decision. All three of our children are confident and independent learners."

The move to homeschooling also allowed Katie and her siblings -- Ben, 20, now at Troy State University and Anna, 18, now at Chattahoochee Valley Community College -- to pursue with zeal the subjects that interested them. For Katie, that meant the space program.

"I've always been fascinated with space and space flight," said Katie. "I was kind of a NASA junkie in high school. I was particularly interested in the older space programs, like Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. And I think I'd like to be involved with research that puts us farther out there (in space)."

With her appetite for knowledge in the field of aerospace, aerospace engineering was a natural choice for a major after Katie flew through her college entrance exams. For the daughter of two alumni -- Katie says her blood "runs orange and blue" -- Auburn would seem like the natural choice. But it took more than that to lure Katie away from Georgia Tech.

"Auburn really rolled out the red carpet for me on my visits," she said. "Georgia Tech just seemed like a really cold place. I think I was pretty open about it, but everything just fell into place for me to come here to Auburn. It was close to home, it was a good economic choice and it has a very high-quality aerospace engineering program."

Because of her high school performance and her entrance exam scores, Katie also qualified for Auburn's Honors College.

"The Honors College has made a really big difference in my experience here," Katie said. "I lived among other Honors students in Broun Hall my first three years here. That was great because it exposed me to students with attitudes about academics that are similar to mine."

Despite rigorous academic habits, Katie has been very active outside the classroom while at Auburn. She is involved with Navigators, an international campus ministry; the Cupola Engineering Society, which she served as director of selection; the student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which she served as co-president this year; the Cliff Dwellers, a particularly rabid group of Auburn basketball fans; and the Honors College, serving as coordinator for freshman orientation and freshman mentoring.

And it was through the Honors College that she learned of the Prestigious Scholarship Program, through which qualified students are encouraged to apply for one or more scholarships like the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright and Goldwater.

Katie chose to pursue the Marshall and the Fulbright.

"I found out about them through Dr. (Jack) Rogers (director of AU's Honors College)," Katie said. "We'd had meetings where he made sure that we knew what the scholarships were, that they are available and what we have to do to be eligible. Plus, we had some really great pizza."

Katie chose the Marshall because it would allow her to go back to the United Kingdom to study. She attended King's College in London in the fall semester of 2001 as part of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's Birdsong Study Abroad Program.

"The program was started by Fred Birdsong, an AU engineering alum who was concerned that AU engineers were one-dimensional," Katie said. "It allows AU engineering students to study abroad as long as they agree to study anything at all but engineering."

Katie studied epistemology, metaphysics, New Testament Greek and Old Testament Hebrew. Her "fantastic" experience allowed her to live in the heart of London with students from all over the world.

The Marshall Scholarship is open only to U.S. citizens who hold a first degree from an accredited four-year college with a minimum grade-point average of 3.7. The two-year scholarship covers university fees, cost-of-living expenses, books, daily travel, fares to and from the United States and more.

The Marshall will allow Katie to return to London and study at Imperial College for her master of philosophy in aeronautical engineering. The fellowship is entirely research based, meaning that students are encouraged to go to class but there is no required course work and there are no grades or examinations. The student pursues a specific research topic with a faculty mentor.

It's the type of study for which Rogers thinks Katie is eminently prepared.

"I think Katie's homeschooling experience -- and we'd like to think her Honors College experience, too -- has allowed her to cultivate a real independence of spirit and how to get down to the basics of what she wants to learn," Rogers said. "That was in fact one of the things that I emphasized to the Marshall people. In the British schools, they really focus on a one-on-one relationship. I really emphasized that her experience with homeschooling prepared her for that kind of learning."

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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Interviews with Blackmar may be arranged through David Granger at 334/844-9999. Photos are also available.)