Madeline Lam is in the top 10 of the graduating class of 2016, and was an active student during her time here at Malden High School.
Lam was a rower on the Crew team, an NHS member, a lover of art, and a winner of the Posse Scholarship. She explains that she will, “miss some of the teachers that [she has known] for a really long time,” such as Art teacher Joseph Luongo. Luongo had been Lam’s art teacher from since the time she was in third grade at the Linden-STEAM Academy in Malden.
Luongo explains that he will, “really miss [Lam],” since he feels that he really has a connection with some of the graduating class this year, who have been with him since he taught art at the Linden-STEAM Academy.
He also explained that Lam, “always put a lot of effort into her projects, even if she didn’t think she could do a good job she tried very hard.” Luongo explains that Lam possessed this characteristic from the time she was in middleschool, up until she took Studio II with him. He expressed that Lam has, ‘blossomed into a very confident, and smart young lady.”
Other than art, Lam enjoyed subjects like Choir and English. She explains that taking AP Language & Composition with Yahaira Marquez was very beneficial because, “She’s really hard but you improve so much as a writer, and she’s truly has good intentions.”
Marquez explains that she enjoys, “Having students in general who do what they have to do in class, truly want to apply the feedback, and work at improving and being better in whatever aspect of class.” She expressed that, “[Lam] was the Epitome of that.”
Lam recently won the a full tuition scholarship from The Posse Foundation earlier this year. Posse is a foundation that offers scholarships to students in public schools, and MHS happens to be one of these schools. Lam explains that, “[She is] really grateful for [her scholarship] and the people in [her] Posse.
Even though Lam has been academically impressive and is in the top 10 of her graduating class, she still feels that grades and GPAs aren’t as important than we all think they are. She expressed that, “at the end of [her] high school career, [she feels] like the educational system can definitely be reformed, but [she doesn’t] know how realistic that is.”
Lam is leaving MHS and starting a new chapter in her life this fall at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. She has not yet chosen a major, but she does want to keep pursuing her passion for art after high school. She explains that the most important thing she learned here in high school is that, “self love is so important. We have to be our own cheerleaders. But it’s not to say that we can’t ask for help.”
Photo taken by Manale Zouhir.
