Student Shout-Out: Maddie Pollis

Maddie Pollis likes having something to strive for.

Her brother goes to the Ivy League’s Brown University, and her mother graduated from the prestigious Vassar College, a school she has such a good relationship with that the family would take trips there when Maddie was a kid.

So although she’s only 17 and a senior at , Maddie has chosen to get a jump on the competition. She learned earlier this month that she is a semi-finalist for the , an honor she earned for receiving an outstanding score on the 2010 Preliminary SAT. Less than 1 percent of all high school seniors earned a spot in the competition, and about 90 percent of those who have will move onto the final round.

Maddie said she learned from her guidance counselor a few weeks ago that she made it into the semi-final round of the competition, which means she’s now in the running to beome a finalist, and could win a $2,500 scholarship award.

“Honestly, I had forgotten about it until my counselor told me,” she said. “I was surprised, but I was really happy.”

Students who win the award must perform well on their SATs and have to earn high marks in their high school classes. Maddie said she’s always excelled as a student, partly because of the standards set by the rest of her family.

“A lot of my family members have accomplished a lot of things,” she said. “It kind of pushes me to do better.”

The excellent marks haven’t come easily. Maddie has little time to do homework and study because of an intense schedule that has her in as many as seven different choirs at Heights High at any given time. Right now she’s preparing to play the lead role in the musical The Sound of Music, and played Belle in last year’s performance of Beauty and the Beast.

It’s not uncommon for Maddie to be at rehearsals until 10 p.m. or later after having put in a full school day. She said she always gets her schoolwork done, however, and being busy actually helps her.

“Oddly enough I seem to be more productive when I’m busy,” she said. “During rehearsals I’m always on top of all my assignments and homework. But when I have time to procrastinate when the play’s over, it’s harder to stay on top of things.”

Her activities also offer her a chance to experience as much as possible before she has to take on the actual responsibilities of adulthood, she said.

“I feel like high school and college are your only chances to learn everything you want to learn and be involved in all the activities you want to be involved in before you have to deal with the real world,” she said. “I guess I want to make the most of all the opportunities I have in high school.”

After high school, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of her mother and attend Vassar College, where she’d like to study musical theater.