Gary and Eleanor Shumaker Endowed Scholarship for a High School History Instructor/Scholar History and Art History

Elisabeth Bodin is an undergraduate student in her senior year at George Mason University and is a student ambassador to the Department of Art History and History. She is pursuing a bachelor's in history, with a concentration in global history focusing on China and Southeast Asia, and a minor in Native American & Indigenous studies. She transferred to Mason from Northern Virginia Community College, where she graduated summa cum laude with an associates of science in education. Having lived in Virginia almost all of her life with a brief stint in England, she is a dual citizen, with roots in Austria, Czechia, and Louisiana. Alongside her studies, Elisabeth works as both a substitute teacher and for EduTutorVA, where she provides virtual tutoring services to K-12 students at Title I schools. 

Elisabeth has dreamed of becoming a teacher for as long as she can remember - originally an elementary education major, she changed her major after realizing teaching history was her true calling. Her long-term goals are to become a history/social studies or special education teacher, and upon graduation she intends to begin her graduate study of history. When she is not taking a course load far beyond reasonable capacity, she enjoys sewing vintage clothes, practicing dance, and reading and writing speculative fiction. She is grateful for the Shumaker award for funding part of her remaining tuition costs, and would also like to thank Disability Services and the faculty at George Mason for providing the support that has provided her academic success.