Reading His Emails Resulted in a Summer Internship and Life-Long Mentorship

Denver Scholarship Foundation (DSF) Scholar Tyson Keller graduated from East High School and is currently a rising senior at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver). He initially planned to attend college and test his options by enrolling at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. As the world was virtual in 2020, Tyson’s first-year college experience was similar. He then transferred to MSU Denver to experience a familiar campus and leverage the familiar campus and connections he had already made in high school through the Trio Upper Bound Program at MSU Denver.

Majoring in Biology with a minor in Business, Tyson is on the pre-medical track, and his goals are to go to medical school focusing on prosthetics treatments. After opening an email from one of his professors, Tyson was encouraged to intern in biocrystallization at Colorado State University in Fort Collins this summer because of his love of neurobiology and genetics. He went through multiple rounds of interviews and extensive professor recommendations and was offered the internship. Tyson will be experiencing living in the dorms for the first time while applying his learnings this summer.   

Another opportunity he found after opening an email was one from DSF, specifically encouraging Tyson to apply for the DSF Mentorship Program, where he was paired with his mentor Alec Fiala. Tyson connected with Alec and talked about the similarities in their fields and their college journeys. As a first-generation college student, it can be challenging to communicate with family and friends as some might need help understanding the different terminologies used in the college-going process or obstacles faced in earning a degree. Tyson found a friend and colleague who he could confide in and ask questions.   

“We all know college is expensive,” said Tyson, “but I did not think it would be this expensive.” I am thankful that my DSF College Advisor at East continued to mention the importance of scholarships. Aside from the financial support, DSF provided many connections to continue to grow my network,”. Tyson also gave some words of wisdom to DSF Scholars, “Read your emails. They often have amazing opportunities to take and meet awesome people!”