Review Committee Pine Lake Preparatory 104 Yellow Wood Circle Mooresville NC, 28117
Dear Review Committee,
My name is Madison Marcus and I am currently a senior at Pine Lake Preparatory. I began my education at Pine Lake Preparatory in ninth grade. I have found that this school has provided me with an excellent education and prepared me to be successful in college. I have challenged myself by taking very difficult, college-level courses in science, English, and history. Beyond academics, Pine Lake has given me the opportunity to participate in the arts during high school. I am the concertmaster of the schools advanced orchestra and a member of the schools chamber music ensemble. I have channeled my passion for violin into the volunteer work I do outside of school. Every year, I teach violin to a few students. Also outside of school, I have pursued dance at Grand Central Academy of Performing Arts where I dance 11 hours a week and am the captain of the dance team. Additionally, I worked as a tutor at Lake Norman Tutoring during my junior year, where I tutored students ages 5-18 in math, reading, and writing. During my time at Lake Norman tutoring, I found that I had a passion for working with children and I wanted to incorporate this into my Pride Project.
Since I was eight years old, I knew I wanted to become a psychiatrist. Learning about how the brain works and uncovering the mysteries of human behavior fascinated me, so I had a very easy time choosing psychiatry as my Pride Project topic. My uncle told me about his experiences working as a psychiatrist and it sounded so interesting to me that I knew I had found a career I was passionate about. I still wanted to incorporate working with children into my project, so I decided to focus my research on adolescent psychiatry. I found that ADHD is the most diagnosed disorder in children, and that depression is also very prevalent in young girls. I also learned that beginning treatment while children are still young is critical in preventing these disorders.
From my research, I came to the conclusion that the most influential product I could create would be a presentation to fifth grade Pine Lake students designed to prepare them for middle school by boosting their self-confidence and teaching them helpful organizational techniques. I will plan a series of fun activities based on my in-depth research to help the students uncover their own positive attributes, see the good in their peers, and discover ways to stay organized and on top of their schoolwork. This will help fifth graders feel more prepared for middle school and give them tools to battle symptoms of ADHD and depression. By partnering with the lower school counselor, Jackie Kurtz, I will find a half day where I can give this presentation to fifth grade classrooms. I expect the total amount of time put into this presentation to be around 10 hours. To present my product to the judges, I will show pictures from my presentation in the lower school and have the judges participate in an activity that I did with the fifth graders. I hope to have completed my presentation by December 1st so I will have ample time to find a day to give the presentation to the lower school and prepare for my presentation to the judges. I look forward to sharing the insights and information I have learned about psychology with the fifth graders and with the judges.