Duane Bonifer  |   Published March 05, 2022

Unlocking the Code

After creating a website, Goldsborough Scholar Margaret Cadell has designs on Monmouth computer science degree.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Lisle High School senior Margaret Cadell can express herself in words and in computer coding, but when she learned that she had been named one of two Monmouth College Goldsborough Scholars, she found herself speechless.

Cadell, of Lisle, Illinois, was studying at home when she received a call from Monmouth Assistant Director of Admission Brock McNinch, informing her that she had received one of two of the Goldsborough Scholarships awarded to Monmouth’s Class of 2026.

MARGARET CADELL: ?I had always heard good things about Monmouth, so once I started looking at col... MARGARET CADELL: “I had always heard good things about Monmouth, so once I started looking at colleges, I started to consider Monmouth. And I really enjoyed the campus when I visited there.”“When Brock told me the news, I started crying a little bit because I couldn’t really respond properly,” said Cadell. “I was very happy because I didn’t expect that I was going to get that news. Then I had to go to work an hour later.”

Monmouth’s most prestigious scholarship, the Goldsborough Scholars program is a full-tuition, four-year scholarship worth more than $160,000 that recognizes outstanding students from the Chicagoland area who have consistently demonstrated academic excellence throughout their high school careers and who embody the mission and values of Monmouth, as evidenced by leadership, service, civic engagement and cocurricular commitments.

An honor student, Cadell has been a member of Lisle’s cross country team, track and field team, band and math team. She’s also been a member of the school’s Youth & Government Club and the Science Olympiad, and she enjoys taking landscape photography.

Cadell was exposed to Monmouth from alumni she knew as well as friends whose relatives had attended the College.

“I had always heard good things about Monmouth, so once I started looking at colleges, I started to consider Monmouth,” she said. “And I really enjoyed the campus when I visited there.”

Cadell plans to major in computer science at Monmouth, which complements another one of her extracurricular activities – computer coding. A coder since the fifth grade, Cadell designed and developed the school website CountdownLHS.com, which helps students manage their time.

“It counts down to the end of each period, and you can put in your homework,” said Cadell. “It also has a finals calculator, a school schedule and other details that help students.”

Cadell became interested in coding when her father shared a Google project with her. She’s also been a member of the Chicago chapter of Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization that supports and works to increase the number of women in computer science.

“After college, I don’t know where I want to work, but I would love to be a programmer for a company, and then I would love to work for Spotify or a music company,” she said. “I would also like to start my own company and build an app someday.”

The Goldsborough Scholars program honors former Monmouth Board of Trustees Chair William J. Goldsborough, a 1965 Monmouth graduate, and his wife, Beverly.

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