Elevating Teens: Highland senior found her community in theater, debate - East Idaho News
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Elevating Teens: Highland senior found her community in theater, debate

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Editor’s note: This is the first in a weekly series spotlighting a local student.

POCATELLO — Madison Cady knew she’d found her niche after getting cast in a local play. Now as a senior at Pocatello’s Highland High School, she enjoys being a member of the drama, speech and debate teams.

Madison started acting in seventh grade after she auditioned for and earned a role in a community play.

“The community and the expression of art was just something that really (resonated) with me and was something that I was able to fall in love with,” Madison tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Her love for acting continued into high school and became a tool when she joined the debate team.

Whether it’s drama, speech or debate, Madison says each of those subjects are performance-related and there are skills in each of those areas that correlate with each other.

“I’m very comfortable around people,” she said. “When it comes to talking or acting, I’m not afraid of embarrassing myself and that has carried over immensely in debate.”

Learning to control her voice, body language and overall demeanor on the debate has proven valuable as well.

When it comes to acting, Madison says dramatic roles are “one of the most beautiful things you can see” when it’s done well, and that’s what she prefers.

But she takes just as much joy from playing a slapstick comedy part.

“Honestly, the most outlandish thing I can do is what I want to do,” she says.

It’s the community that forms around a theater or drama group that she loves most, and she’d like to pursue it as a hobby or career after high school.

Madison’s earned several individual honors in both drama and debate — including a third-place finish and second-place finish on the state level in acting and debate respectively. She also helped the Highland debate team win its first state competition in 50 years.

“Being part of that success and feeling all the hard work that I had done pay off, and seeing everyone else’s immense excitement and joy from an activity that we all love is something that will always be a part of me,” she said.

Madison wants to attend college locally and is still trying to decide whether to attend Idaho State University or Brigham Young University-Idaho.

She hasn’t completely made up her mind about a career path, either. The idea of being a teacher is appealing to her because she can use her love of preparing material and presenting it. But she’s also thinking of becoming a dermatologist.

Regardless of what she chooses, she’s confident that theater or debate will remain an important part of her life.

As she prepares for graduation, she’s grateful for the things she’s accomplished and how far she’s come.

“When I walk down these halls or look at the trophies … I think about how I went from being a sophomore who barely did anything and didn’t want to work, to (being) a senior, completely successful in all my events and all the things I wanted to do because I found that passion.”

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