(MURFREESBORO, TN) Riverdale Honors College students descended on MTSU campus in celebration of Tennessee’s STEM week last Friday. Students attended a variety of classes and participated in STEM experiments within MTSU’s College of Mathematics and Sciences.  

Andrew Newsom, a senior at Riverdale and a member of the Honors College, hopes the experience helped provide a feel for what college is like. 

“Most people don’t get into a classroom before college,” Newsom said. “Our teachers wanted us to get a feel for the different areas offered in Science and STEM, so they gave us this information and said to sign up if we were interested. We all signed up.” 

There were a variety of classes offered for students to choose, with fields in Mathematics, Concrete Management, Physics, Biology, Geoscience, and even Microbiology.  

“Students raved about their time in the experiments,” said Kimberly Cerchiaro, Riverdale AP instructor and AP coach. “The field trip would not have been possible without Dr. Mullens, MTSU’s generosity, or the Richard Siegel Grant we won for taking out students on college tours.” 

The experience also gave students the chance to experience what MTSU is like, and what to expect when they get on campus as actual students. Universally, Riverdale students had many good insights after being college students for a day.  

“The field trip was a great overall learning experience about college,” said Diora Webb, a Riverdale Honors College student. “The classes I went to did not necessarily make me want to study in Biology, but it did show me what kind of classes I like. It showed me that I liked smaller, more personal classes.” 

Abby Valovich was impressed with the college and is now considering applying.  

“I loved the experience I had at MTSU. I never thought about considering putting MTSU on my college list, but after sitting through a couple of classes, I ended up loving everything about it,” Valovich said.

Riverdale launched its Honor College program this year with the intent to help those students form a community within the larger school while participating in the highest levels of classes and engaging in enrichment activities, college visits, and social functions throughout the year. 

More than 150 students are part of the inaugural class.   

Story By GRAYSON LEE MAXWELL