CLC News The news and events from Central Lakes College
Eight Central Lakes College TRIO Upward Bound students attended the National Girls in STEM conference hosted by the Educational Opportunity Association at Central Michigan University May 19-21. The CLC students are from Onamia, Isle, Pierz-Healy, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, Browerville and Staples-Motley high schools.
STEM includes the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, which often lack female representation. At the conference, the CLC TRIO Upward Bound students developed leadership skills and met other girls from 10 different states, all interested in similar careers.
They also had the opportunity to listen to Marlin Williams, who shared advice for success in male dominated fields. Williams learned to code in 13 languages in seven weeks at the beginning of her career and now has worked for two fortune 500 companies and assisted with events including the Super Bowl XL.
A few CLC TRIO Upward Bound students weigh in on the experience:
Madison Sam: “I thought the conference was super fun and it really opened my eyes to STEM and showed me that there is a lot more options than most people know. My future plans if I go into STEM would be to be a doctor or do research about the nervous system and maybe possibly find a way to help people who have been paralyzed.”
Xanna Pedersen: “The thing that I took away from the stem conference was to love yourself, be confident and follow your dreams. The STEM conference really helped me open up to others and express what I would like to do with my future and how they can help me take steps to reach my goals.”
Avalon Peterson: “I enjoyed meeting other people from other states and different places! I loved the diversity since I don’t get to see it a lot anymore, and I still plan to go into the medical field, because I saw powerful smart women in the STEM workplace.”
Marissa Lentz: “What I took away from the conference is that you need to have confidence and love for yourself and others, and it’s nice if you have a good plan for your future. I thought it was a great conference and would like to go again. My future STEM plans are to go to college and get a bachelor or master’s degree in some sort of science, math and engineering.”
Learn more about CLC’s TRIO Upward Bound: www.clcmn.edu/trio-upward-bound-3/
