“The distance between dreams and reality is called action,” said public speaker and self-development author Brian Tracy. Sophomore Madison Hill is proving her dedication to close that distance. Spending a majority of her time working on academics and the rest participating in BPA, Speech and Debate, Japanese club, Key club, club volleyball and school volleyball, Hill shows her commitment to turn her dream into her reality. From this, her classmates can be inspired to achieve their goals as well.
“I’m working really hard to be a lawyer,” Hill said. She recognizes what she must do to achieve this goal.
According to nesl.edu, law schools are looking for strong academic rigor and test scores, extracurricular involvement and a previous interest in law. Hill puts in the effort to display all three of these. Keeping this goal in mind helps her to maintain her motivation throughout her academic career. Moreover, Hill’s law school of choice happens to be none other than Stanford Law.
According to niche.com, the acceptance rate is a mere 4%, and the school has a prestigious reputation as an elite and competitive private university. It is also ranked as the third best college in America. But Hill has never been one to shy away from a challenge.
“So, I need to stay motivated and have a ton of rigor in my schedule,” Hill said. To accomplish this, she’s taking many strenuous classes such as AP Biology, AP Physics and AP Calc, the latter being her favorite.
“It’s all conceptual,” Hill said. “If you understand the concepts and how they’re applied, it’s not just an equation, it’s like a story.” Because of this thought process, College Precalculus teacher Kasey Krone, who considers the course in a comparable manner, has been her favorite teacher so far. She acknowledged that when a teacher thinks through the work similar to how a student does, it is much easier to learn.
Additionally, Hill strengthens her prospects through one of her most impressive strengths: speech and debate. Over the summer, she partook in an intensive law and trial program through the American Mock Trial Association that was held at Stanford University. However, Hill’s dedication extends beyond summer break. She often spends her weekends choosing between a debate tournament, volleyball tournament, or schoolwork. Though it is complicated, she has developed systems to keep her on schedule.
“I balance all my extracurriculars by having it all written down in my calendar,” she said. With a schedule as packed as hers, she believes maintaining organization is the key to success. Another one of her best tips is for each individual to choose studying methods according to how they personally learn best. For people like her whose strength is memorization, flashcards like Quizlet can be the most helpful tool. But often people study best when activating the right or creative side of their brain with visual activities such as flowcharts.
While many students have different goals than Hill, those goals and aspirations are no less important. But what is important is to continue to work hard for them, as Hill’s commitment and big goals inspire others to do.
