#SeniorSpotlight - Madison Smith
Madison Smith is a Senior at DSST: Stapleton High School. Before she departs on her journey to college, we asked her a few things about her time at DSST and her post-grad plans. Here's what she had to say...
What are your plans after graduation?
"I will be attending Carleton College next year. I intend to major in biology. I choose biology because when I was in AP Bio and BioChem there was never a dull moment. It’s a challenging major, but it provides the chance to learn something new every day. Biology also is one of the majors I can have in undergraduate school to prepare me for physical therapy school (graduate school). I hope to pursue both of my passions of service and biology through my career and physical therapy seemed to be the perfect mix.
I ended up choosing Carleton because of the “feel.” While walking around on the campus tour, I didn’t mind the freezing Minnesota temperatures because I loved being there. Carleton is one of the top rated small, liberal arts school in the nation, and just being on campus I was able to understand why. From the people to the campus, Carleton was beautiful, and it had so much to offer."
Why is going to college important to you?
"From the time I was in 5th grade, I knew wanted to go to DSST. I knew that DSST was the school to get students into college. As a young 10-year-old, college meant a future. And, as of now, it still does. College matters to me because it is the place where I can grow, make friends and have the time of my life. Not only that, but it provides a space to widen my learning and find my passions. College is this ambiguous, exciting thing that means something different to everyone. For that 10-year-old and now for this 18-year-old, college still means the same thing: potential."
Who has helped you get to where you are today?
"My biggest supporters have been by parents. Through the ups and downs, the stress and relief, they have been there. When it came to senior thesis they both printed out copies of my rough draft, read it separately, then discussed on how I could improve it together. It is support like theirs that helped me get through all of DSST and end on a high note. I couldn’t have done it without them."