(Editor’s note: Bobcat Spotlight is a recurring feature spotlighting Marshalltown High School students who are involved in activities other than traditional sports.)

As part of Marshalltown’s chapter of the Science Bound program sponsored by Iowa State University, Ethen Santana and other MHS students have learned about how careers in ASTEM (agriculture, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) through hands-on experiences, activities, projects that include twice-yearly visits to the Ames campus.

“It’s very broad, and very important to really anything,” said Santana, an MHS senior. “You can help a lot of people with what you do, especially with engineering or agriculture, helping people, keeping them safe. It’s very open with how you want to pursue things.”

Science Bound is offered by ISU to increase the number of diverse Iowa students earning ASTEM and education degrees, drawing from several middle and high schools in Des Moines, Denison and Osceola schools as well as Marshalltown.

MHS biology instructor Lynne Diggins said that Santana is one of seven seniors in the program, which currently has 44 total students participating. Santana was recommended for the program in seventh grade.

“I was kind of in the mindset at the time that I wanted to pursue music,” Santana said. “I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try … and it just felt right for me, and learning about all the ways that I could have a STEM career opened me to different professions that I may want to do.”

A summer class offered by Science Bound opened Santana’s eyes to coding, which he’s latched on to and will further pursue at ISU where he plans to major in computer science.

Science Bound students that fulfill the program’s commitments through the high school program and pursue a technical degree at the school receive a full tuition scholarship from the university. The program then continues at ISU, bringing together students from around the state to continue to grow, learn, and network.

Santana still pursues his passions in music as well as part of a busy extracurricular schedule, participating in band and jazz band where he’s received multiple all-state music selections as well as National Honor Society and performing the music for MHS theater productions.

“Ethen is a role model for our younger Science Bound scholars by showing them how to manage their studies and extracurriculars,” Diggins said. “He’s always willing to talk to others, share ideas and help when needed. … I know I can count on him to be a leader.”

Santana appreciates how both coding and music can bring people together from all over the world.

“Coding and music are both like their own languages,” Santana said. “You can hand someone a piece of sheet music and you don’t even have to speak the same language and you can play together. The same kind of goes for coding — if you know how to read code, you can understand what’s going on and what will happen.”

And computer science also can help musicians, too: “You can pretty much help any part of the world with coding,” Santana added.

The Science Bound program has also helped Santana feel more at peace with his future and calm any high school senior anxieties about the next step.

“Visiting campus so often has made it much more comfortable to be there,” Santana said. “You don’t feel out of place, you feel like you know where you are.”

Ethen Santana

Other extracurriculars: Band, jazz band, theater orchestra, National Honor Society, tennis

Musical instruments I play: Clarinet, saxophone, oboe and piano

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Favorite musical genres: Hip hop and jazz

Who I’m listening to alot currently: Laufey

Destination vacation: North or South Pole, to see the northern/southern lights

Someone I look up to: Elijah Thiessen, a 2021 MHS grad and musician

Dream dinner guest: A jazz musician to talk about the composing process for their music