In 2023, Kelly Parsley’s present and future were utterly transformed. That year, this citizen of the Cherokee Nation became one of 60 students from across the country selected to receive a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Worth up to $55,000 annually, this highly competitive award enabled Parsley to transfer to The University of Tulsa to complete a bachelor’s degree.
At the time, Parsley was a student at Tulsa Community College (TCC), wrapping up associate degrees in biology, enterprise development and liberal arts. In May, she will graduate from UTulsa with a bachelor’s degree in biological science on the pre-med track.
This short account makes Parsley’s successful personal and academic journey seem straightforward and even inevitable. Its reality, however, is anything but.
Academic and personal alignment
Growing up, Parsley was raised by a single mother who could neither read nor write in a family that relied on Cherokee Nation assistance to make ends meet. Her private dream of becoming a doctor seemed out of reach, especially once she married and gave birth to five children. After a divorce in 2020, Parsley changed the narrative and enrolled at TCC.
Soon after being named a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, Parsley received a call from UTulsa. “The day I visited felt like a dream,” she recalled. “It was completely transformative. I was especially struck by the university’s advanced research facilities, including its electron microscope, the strength of the biology and pre-med programs and the exceptional care put into maintaining the campus.”
A key factor in her decision to study at UTulsa was the effort faculty and administrators made to ensure she and her children could live together on campus. “I felt a genuine investment in me not only as a student but as a parent,” said Parsley. “I could have taken my scholarship to any number of other universities, but UTulsa and Oxley College of Health & Natural Sciences are where my academic goals, values and sense of belonging most powerfully align.”
Life-changing learning
In addition to her biological science major, Parsley is completing minors in neuroscience and chemistry. “My science and math coursework has transformed the way I understand the world,” she said. “From genetics and biochemistry to physics, my professors have empowered me to grasp science from the quantum scale to complex biological systems. Studying neuroscience has given me a framework for understanding the ‘why’ behind behavior, learning, pain, emotion and healing, while my chemistry courses have taught me to think in terms of mechanisms rather than memorization and to see how small changes can have significant downstream effects.”
Parsley is also enthusiastic about the opportunities to engage in meaningful research beyond the classroom. Under the direction of Professor of Biological Science Ali Akhtar, Parsley has been working in Akhtar’s lab for the past two years, including two summers as a Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) participant. “Kelly is one of the strongest undergraduate researchers in my laboratory,” Ali observed. “She is highly creative and consistently proposes innovative ideas for designing experiments and obtaining results aligned with the project’s objectives.”
As a member of Ali’s lab, Parsley helps to train new students and developed an independent research project focused on finding a safe, biological-based way to protect crops that forgoes the need for chemical treatments. The solution she is investigating entails deploying a mycovirus to infect a fungus that damages watermelon crops. “Dr. Ali’s mentorship has been foundational to my growth as a scientist,” Parsley remarked. “Through my experiences in his lab, I have been able to strengthen my leadership and critical thinking skills, conduct field work and present my findings at several conferences. And now, I am preparing to publish my first scientific paper.”
In addition to giving her a solid grounding in pure and applied science, UTulsa has afforded Parsley the opportunity to study Cherokee and Spanish. “UTulsa’s advisers and faculty worked with me to integrate language study into my academic path, allowing me to honor a core part of who I am,” she said. “Spending an entire year learning Cherokee was profoundly important to me both personally and culturally. I am now deeply immersed, as well, in Spanish, with the goal of becoming fully fluent and using those languages as a bridge in my future medical practice.” Parsley’s children are also learning Cherokee and Spanish, which they practice together at home.
Service, leadership and purpose
As she looks to her post-UTulsa future, Parsley said her main goal is “to give back to the communities and the Cherokee Nation that supported my journey. I also want to model for my children what service, leadership and purpose can look like in action.” With those aspirations in mind, Parsley aims to matriculate into medical school. Long term, she hopes to complete residency training in Oklahoma, ideally in partnership with the Cherokee Nation.
Parsley’s potential to achieve her ambitions and contribute to her community have already been noted by UTulsa alumna Natasha Bray (B.S. ’99), dean of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation. “Kelly is an exceptional student whose intellectual curiosity is matched by her courage and commitment to community,” observed Bray. “As a first‑generation student and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she has paired strong academic performance with meaningful service, most recently helping bring health and science learning opportunities to local students in Tahlequah through Youth Medical Mentorship, where she serves as tribal and rural director.
“Kelly’s resilience, integrity and person‑centered approach give me great confidence that she will thrive in medical training and become the kind of physician who uplifts and empowers rural and tribal communities.”
Advice to thrive
In fall 2025, Parsley was one of five UTulsa students recognized with an Outstanding Transfer Student Award. Reflecting on the components that led to this and other successes, she created a short set of recommendations for others who seek to thrive at university:
- Ask faculty for help. UTulsa professors want to build genuine relationships with you.
- Faculty and staff want you to succeed. But your job is to show up, stay curious and advocate for yourself.
- First-generation students: Remember, you belong in these spaces. Your background is not a weakness. It is a strength.
- Embrace your curiosity – weird and nerdy ones included! – and your passions unapologetically and ask questions without hesitation.
- Understand that our failures mean we’re learning. Each challenge will bring you closer to where you’re meant to be as long as you get back up and keep going.
- Remember and remind yourself of your own, personal “why” – the reason you started your amazing journey.
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