I've been accepted into 231 colleges
and I have $14.8 million in
scholarships
being a military child . It's not easy .
Um But you know , there's other
military Children here , there's
military life um counselor and as
adults who are in the military or who
are also a military child . So , um you
know , just having that kind of bond
with people , um knowing that they have
been through the same thing that I'm
going through , it kind of gives me a
peace of mind with the military . She
has moved several times and each uh
move you have different challenges .
Each location is a different climate ,
uh different friends and different
school systems . So for her resiliency ,
I say was her strong suit . Madison is
my sweet baby . But um she is a very
kind person , compassionate . Um I like
to call her a servant leader . Um She
loves to serve um since a very young
age . Uh so I think that she's a well
rounded uh young lady uh who has a
bright future ahead of her high school
experience has been nothing short of
amazing , you know , all the clubs and
activities that I'm involved in and all
the people that I've grown to know ,
it's really been such an amazing
environment to be a part of all the
accomplishments and things that I've
done for my school . Um you know ,
being a part of the student governance
team , being the vice president of my
class . Um we organized a lot of events
that weren't happening , you know , a
couple of years ago . So just to get
our class involved is really important
for me , Madison is a people person .
Uh Madison is gen um every day , all
day . I get exactly who she is . Um
She's very helpful . Um If you were to
talk to others on campus and they will
tell you the exact same thing . If she
can lend a hand , she's willing to lend
a hand and she's a giver , she will
give of her time , energy and talent .
Um just as her family is willing now to
give back to others . Um We are
highlighting Madison um but they're
giving so much to other students , to
other families . So Madison is a
product of her family . She is a giver
and she's a helper . Madison . Um I've
always taught her about hard work and
how it pays off and the um the
importance of doing things um working
for things and things are not just
going to be given to you . Um So as a
result , um when it , now when at times
when it really matters . Her putting in
the hard work and having the discipline
to apply for the scholarships , applies
to the schools , make sure she doesn't
miss deadlines . Um And then also
applying that to her , uh life as a
student , as a scholar . Um just with
her and her class work and her teachers ,
uh all of these things kind of work
hand in hand that has allowed her to
have the success that she's
experiencing today . This , the process
really starts . Um It started for me a
long time ago , but I feel like we
really put a jump on it um last year .
So my junior year , um we really
started narrowing down , you know ,
what schools did . I really like what
schools would be beneficial for me and
what I wanted to major in . And so , um
yeah , I'm just making sure that , you
know , I have a couple of things in
order in mind that um I'm thinking
about when I'm choosing the school of
my choice for us as a family , we al we
always had a plan for her . We knew um
we were trying to go to college and we
had to go ahead and devise the proper
way to um get her mind . It's , it's ,
it's about a mentality first . So we
had to get our mindset tailored for
higher academia . Um We had a war board
that we used when we started tracking
all the universities and stuff and as a
two parent household , she was able to
get the nurture side of her mo my
mother and we've been in the military ,
she was able to get the discipline and
the resiliency . It's amazing . It's an
amazing , uh , feeling . Um , but most
people think it's an amazing feeling
just for the attention . I think it's
an amazing feeling just for the
exposure of other young people , um ,
of military Children , Children from ,
you know , uh , ERD areas underserved
communities to be able to see that
someone who is in the same , you know ,
location or in the same type of area as
um they are could achieve these goals
so that it would inspire them to do it .
So it's not so much about the attention
that she gives , but more so about the
inspiration um that we can offer to
others . Um You know , I'm just , I'm
just like everybody else . Um I'm no
different than any other kid . Um I
don't want people to think just because
I have uh achieved such greatness that
I think that I'm better than anybody
because that is completely false . So I
just want everybody to know that you
can do everything that I'm doing if you
put your mind to and that this guy is
not doing .