Madison's Accomplishments: Madison has truly blossomed during the last 8 years she's spent at Arkansas Arts Academy. She was able to maintain a 4.0 GPA and was ranked in the top 10% of her class. She continued to work on all aspects of her music participating in choir, musical theater and orchestra every year. The arts have also contributed to her tremendous love for the beauty industry. She completed courses from Parsons School of Design, Teen Vogue & developed her artistry at a professional makeup school. Since Madison had completed all of her required credits and was in good standing when schools closed for Covid-19, she was able to graduate early.
Post-Secondary Plans: Madison was accepted at 6 universities including Baylor, Belmont, Oklahoma State, University of North Texas and Florida State but she went with her number one school, Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY. She was one of 1200 freshman accepted out of 12,000 that applied. In addition to being accepted to Marist, Madison applied for their Freshman Study Abroad Program and was one of 30 students accepted to spend her first year studying in Florence, Italy. Madison intends to major in Fashion Merchandising with a Business Concentration and minor in Music Performance. She is looking forward to immersing herself in Italian culture and meeting in person all of the many students in her class of 2024 that she has already started connecting with online.
Scholarships and Awards: Madison was offered scholarships at each university she applied to. Marist offered her the Presidential Scholarship of $50,000 over 4 years for academics and the Fusco Music Scholarship of $10,000 over 4 years for music. She was also given the Freshman Florence Experience Award of $5,000 to be applied her first year.
What Madison will miss most: There is no doubt that Madison will miss the comradery she's developed between her friends and teachers most. She was immediately welcomed by students her first day of 5th grade and has stayed close to the entire class. She has received the greatest amount of comfort, laughter and support from her AAA family. They are the ones who have helped prepare her for this next stage in life.
Congratulations Madison!