Community is the Baker difference for graduate

College seniors might be tempted to take it easy their last semester, but if you’re an education major, like Nia Madison, you have to spend it a little differently. Madison is diving head first into her chosen career by student teaching at Olathe South High School this semester.

Madison grew up in Overland Park, Kansas. She attended Shawnee Mission South, where she was a member of the dance team. She competed for four years on the Baker dance team and two years on the bowling team and served as secretary and treasurer for Mungano, the student-run diversity organization. The opportunity to be involved in a variety of activities and create a community is what Madison loves about Baker.

“I feel with it being so small, having an opportunity to be in different groups, meeting people, seeing them on campus all the time, I was able to meet more people and network a little bit,” she said. “I got to know a more diverse group of people.”

After receiving her diploma at the Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m. at the George F. Collins, Jr. Sports and Convention Center in Baldwin City, Madison will take what she has learned from her campus experiences into her teaching career. She plans to teach math at the high school level and, for now, to stay in the Kansas City metro area to be near home.

“I’m so excited to be graduating and I’m anxious to see what’s next,” she said.