Madilyn Carey is known for her last minute projects. I frequently witness her completing tasks literally seconds before they are due. On the night of Snow Ball, Kylie Peterson, Kyra Hovis, Carey and I were driving back from the dance to stay at my house. Carey was upset because the song she requested did not play at the dance, and Hovis was talking about UW-Madison applications. This quickly alerted Carey that she had not yet submitted her Nelson scholarship application, and it had to be submitted at 11:59 that night. She locked herself in my room and finished her essay, submitting it on the dot. Her ability to focus in and complete tasks under immense pressure helps her lock in and complete assignments with impressive results.
Carey has participated in cross country for each of her four years in high school. She enjoys the interactions during meets and being with her teammates the most. This year, Carey was voted into the captain position, which gave her a leadership role on the team.
“I took the captain position seriously, I had to be aware of the way my actions reflect upon others and influence others, I had to make sure I was staying positive and still being able to support the team when everyone was kind of struggling together,” Carey said.
Carey also decided to become a manager for the track team this year because she wanted to continue supporting the team and help out in any way possible, even if not participating in the sport itself.
“I have trouble enjoying myself running around a track. It is not really what I wanted to spend my time doing, but helping them was really important to me, so that is why I became a manager instead of doing track,” Carey said.
During her time in karate, Carey had been disciplined to understand the concept “learn to teach and teach to learn.” This has helped her throughout her leadership positions in cross country, track, band and FBLA.
Carey has an encouraging and inviting character, she loves to help newcomers adjust and feel comfortable in their surroundings whether that applies to track, band, cross country or FBLA.
“Carey is a great flute player. As a freshman, it was hard to start the year, it felt hard to fit in the Spartan band. As the year went by, I felt like the Spartan band and the band as a whole was my new home. All of that was because of Carey,” said Jayla Ludwig.
As a freshman, Ludwig has been in track and band with Carey, and has experienced her enthusiasm of support for the band and the track team.
“Carey is one of the three track managers this season. I am one of the Freshman girls on track this year. It has been really nice having Carey at the meets. She has been so supportive of me and many other people on the team. I love how whenever I get a new PR in one of my races, she celebrates with me. She cheers on everyone on the team and it’s pretty cool to have her on our team,” Ludwig said.
Carey’s presence is always inviting and she is always determined to help someone out and make a good impact even though she is always busy with activities and rushing her work. She always makes time for friends, and will always lend a hand to someone she can help.