The Center Grove High School valedictorian has long known what college she would be attending.
Madison Hodges’ parents both graduated from Purdue University and her older sister just finished her sophomore year there. As Hodges and her family were picking out photos to display at her graduation party, they found photos of her at Purdue from nearly every stage of her life, from when she was a toddler to her senior year of high school.
Hodges will now attend Purdue University this fall, where she plans to study engineering with the possibility of specializing in environmental engineering.
“I’m looking forward to being in a new environment and being able to challenge myself and grow as a person,” she said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Her goal is to do her part in protecting the environment by one day working for either the Environmental Protection Agency or as a consultant to help businesses make sure that what they are doing isn’t negatively impacting the environment.
“It’s our home,” Hodges said. “Once we ruin the environment we don’t have a backup plan.”
As a student, Hodges kept herself busy outside of the classroom. She was a drum major in the marching band, played clarinet for the pep and concert bands, was involved in student government and was also involved with several clubs. She also worked at Kroger the past semester, meaning she had to be careful with how she managed her time to ensure she stayed on top of her schoolwork, Hodges said.
Hodges will graduate at the top of her class at Center Grove High School, a spot she has had for most of her time there.
“It’s nice to have my hard work pay off, but I’m ready to embrace the role for graduation and move on,” she said.
Her graduation speech to her classmates will be about how they should never stop learning.
“Our high school education ends here, but learning about ourselves never stops,” Hodges said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”The Hodges file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Madison Hodges
GPA: 4.75
Age: 17
Parents: Kimberly and Stephen Hodges
City: Greenwood
College: Purdue University
Major: Engineering
[sc:pullout-text-end]
