Marshalltown High School 2017 graduate Aspen Chadderdon returned to MHS on March 9 to talk to science classes about her STEM studies in college. She is in her first year at Monmouth College in Illinois.
It’s been nearly a year since Aspen Chadderdon was a student at Marshalltown High School. The 2017 MHS graduate made a return to the school on March 9 to give back.
Chadderdon, a freshman at Monmouth College in Illinois with a double major of physics and biochemistry, spoke to students in the MHS classes of General Chemistry 1, Physics and Organic Chemistry. Her main goal was to talk to current high school students about what it is like to study STEM areas in college, according to MHS teacher Stephen Frese.
Apsen also plays on the Monmouth College soccer team
“Aspen gave some of our junior and senior students an inside look into what it was like to be a STEM student by describing what a typical week might be like, similarities and differences between high school and college classes, and what you could expect from different aspects of the class experience,” Frese said.
Chadderdon also spoke of how the dual credit opportunities at MHS and Marshalltown Community College while in high school allowed her to accelerate past introductory courses when she arrived as a full time college student.
She also talked about the growing career opportunities in STEM, specifically in physics and biochemistry.
“I think my current students found this part of her presentation helpful because it offered up several ideas, more than they had thought of before,” Frese said.
