Konnor Parrish (Oak Lawn), shared his educational journey while on a panel for the Illinois Project Lead the Way meeting.
Moraine Valley Community College student and Engineering Pathways program participant, Konnor Parrish (Oak Lawn), shared his experiences and educational journey while on a panel for the Illinois Project Lead the Way (PLTW) meeting at the Marriott Hotel in Oak Brook.
Many STEM programming initiatives are available through PLTW in an effort to get youth interested and involved in learning about STEM careers. Parrish had been part of the PLTW program as a student at Oak Lawn High School. When he started at Moraine Valley in the fall, he joined the Engineering Pathways program at the college, which guarantees transfer admission into the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he’ll attend starting in fall 2019.
The panel included elementary, middle and high school students as well as a working engineer. They shared insight into how each level of their PLTW curriculum experience prepared them for the next step along the STEM pathway. As the lone college representative, Parrish spoke about the transition from high school to college on his quest to pursue a degree in civil engineering.
“My experience with the panel was a great opportunity for me to speak to members of the PLTW program. I was fortunate enough to talk about how the program led me to my decision of going into engineering. I also talked about how my experience in the PLTW has affected my college experience,” Parrish said. “The program is great, and I am very lucky to be in it. The most important part of the program so far is the friendships that I’ve formed.”
