(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University student is among the few nationwide chosen for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Emma Alstott is a global resource systems and horticulture major from Fort Dodge. Alstott learned she’d been picked for the academic honor last week after returning home from a three-month study visit to Greece. “I didn’t even think I would be selected as a campus representative because I had to do a preliminary competition as well, through the college,” Alstott says. “So even to be selected to move on to me was a huge honor, and then when I found out I was selected on the national level, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Alstott has done two study abroad trips, spending two weeks in Kosovo in a city that has formal a sister city relationship with Fort Dodge. “I was very lucky to participate in the Sister City exchange in 2019 right before COVID happened, luckily, so I was the last group to go over there before we put a pause to the program,” Alstott says. “That was definitely a very foundational experience in me deciding what I wanted to study.”

Emma Alstott (ISU photo)

Alstott, who plans to graduate from I-S-U in 2026, says her latest educational journey in Greece was fully immersive. “I took five different classes, three were focused on horticultural sciences, such as olive production and viticulture,” she says, “and then the other two were focused on the Greek language as well as Greek culture.”

The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, fees, books and room-and-board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. It’s named for the late U.S. Senator and 1964 GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater of Arizona.