Clemson University friends score major honor together

Makenzie Jones said she was at a shopping mall when her friend Regan O’Neill texted her with the news that they both had received Astronaut Scholarships, an honor that goes to some of the nation’s top juniors and seniors in STEM majors.

“I dropped my shopping bag on the floor and freaked out,” Jones said.

Jones and O’Neill, both rising seniors at Clemson University, were among 74 students from 51 schools across the country to receive one of this year’s scholarships. The merit-based scholarship provides up to $15,000 for education.

It’s a big deal for any recipient, but what made it extra special for Jones and O’Neill is that they are friends who did it together. They met through the Clemson University Honors College, have studied together and went through the scholarship application together.

“She was the first person I wanted to call,” O’Neill said. “My mom was like, you need to call your dad first.”

Robyn Curtis, director of Clemson’s Office of Major Fellowships, said it’s a notable distinction for Clemson to have two students selected for the Astronaut Scholarship.

“These awards are a clear indicator that Clemson is not only cultivating exceptional talent but also increasingly attracting some of the most intellectually driven and high-achieving students in the country,” she said.

Jones, of Rock Hill, is a biomedical engineering major who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the same field after finishing her bachelor’s degree. She was previously selected for the highly competitive DAAD RISE program, which offers summer research internships in Germany. She conducts research with Dan and Aggie Simionescu, both of the Department of Bioengineering.

O’Neill, of Mount Pleasant, is majoring in mechanical engineering and wants to help propel humanity to Mars. She previously received the Brooke Owens Fellowship and is also a recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. She conducts research under the mentorship of Stephen Kaeppler of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

In their first year at Clemson, Jones and O’Neill were part of a network of women who met in a common room of the Honors College to help each other with homework.

“It was so nice to have other people to share that with, and when we were stuck on stuff, we could help each other,” Jones said.

Now that they are in different engineering majors they still help each other by talking through struggles they are facing, O’Neill said. They also go line dancing and to country music concerts on the weekends.

“It’s a person to say, ‘Hey, we’re working crazy hard. Let’s go and take a break and do something fun,'” O’Neill said.

In their time at Clemson, Jones and O’Neill have come to admire each other’s dedication and perseverance. They said they both work hard and have remained focused on academics and research.

And that relentlessness in the lab and classroom has led to a pair of Astronaut Scholarships.

“It was really awesome that we were able to both get it and that we’re able to share this accomplishment together,” Jones said.

Students interested in the Astronaut Scholarship or other nationally competitive programs should contact the Office of Major Fellowships at 864-656-9704 or fellowships@clemson.edu.