December 2014
This is the time of the
year when students are anxiously checking the mailbox for college acceptance
letters. But senior Madison O’Neal was
waiting for an email, and just a few days ago she got the email of her
dreams. Maddy, as she is called by family
and friends, received notification that she was accepted to Yale University
under a full ride scholarship.
This extraordinary
accomplishment has been in the making for most of her life. By the time she entered kindergarten she was already
reading and comprehending, to the amazement of her teacher. She continued this trend of working above
grade level throughout her elementary years participating in the gifted
programs offered at those schools. Maddy
and her family credit the dedication of her teachers who were always willing to
find ways to challenge her inquisitive nature.
Since becoming a student of Moon Valley High School, she has continued excellence
in her academics as well as finding time to cultivate a leadership role on our
campus and in our community. In addition
to many community service hours through National Honor Society, Spanish NHS,
and ROTC, she founded what is now a 501c3 charitable organization called
BASE. Also, this spring she will complete her
fourth year of competing as part of the Lady Rockets Softball team. It was her passion for this sport that drove
her to form Bringing Athletes Sports Equipment, Inc, helping to make
extracurricular sports accessible to young athletes who might not otherwise be
able to participate.
All of these phenomenal
achievements helped culminate in the realization of her ambition to attend one
of America’s most reputable universities.
This past September marked the deadline for submitting applications to
compete for a QuestBridge Scholarship.
This organization seeks to match under-served youth with exceptional academic
achievement to colleges and scholarship opportunities. The agency began with over 11,000 applicants
who completed over 28 pages composed of application, essays, short answer
questions and school recommendations. At
mid-October, the finalists were narrowed down to 4,180 applicants who needed to
complete college applications to their top eight choices. The timeframe was rigorous as prospects had
only 10 days to return these along with supplemental information. From there, QuestBridge goes through a
complex matching process which resulted in 501 matches out of the original four
thousand. Maddy is receiving tuition,
room and board, books, travel and money for some additional expenses which in
total earned her a scholarship worth approximately $275,000!
Congratulations to Maddy for such a grand
accomplishment and we will be wishing her the very best as she
embarks on a remarkable journey in New Haven, Connecticut.