senior portfolio

Maddy Rodabaugh

I love this quote because I

feel as if it explains perfectly

what every senior is about to

go through. Leaving your

family and friends, but open-

ing your eyes and realizing

you will make new friends

and you will still see your

family. I have incorporated this quote

and mainly change into all of my titles

and stories in some sort of way. Once I

graduate high school and leave Fishers,

IN I will abide to this quote at all times.

―Things CHANGE. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.‖ —Stephen Chbosky

“Don’t worry, be happy.” —Bob Marley

5/20/2013

Volume 1, Issue 1

Letter To Me, Family Roles, Family Memory

2

Top 10 3

School Memory, Time Capsule

4

Miss, Lesson Learned, Change

5

World Events, Pop Cul-ture

6

Pop Culture, Art Reflec-tions

7

Future Plans 8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Inside this issue:

Special points of in-

terest:

Each insertion is

about my life and the

changes I have and

will go through.

Dear me,

To start this off I want to tell you I

have learned so much through my years and

what I say is only best for you. When Cameron

tries to steal your pink, sparkly ruler do not

make it a big deal. Be the bigger person as the

guiltless, kindergartener you are and ask for it

back. Don’t try to tie your new shoes together

and go down the stairs, especially when you are

wearing a dress. When your mom tells you to

go tell your dad breakfast is ready always walk,

do not run. When you move to Valparaiso, it is

going to be hard to leave your best friend Paige

down the street, but force yourself to stay in

touch with her. Spend as much time with your

family and friends as you can because you never

know what is going to happen. Help Nash

become more outgoing with kids in his grade

starting at a younger age. Practice softball and

soccer like you will never play them again. Make

grandpa Ernie hit you fly balls every time you

see him and give him a big

hug afterwards, it will make

his day. Leaving your

friends in Valpo will be much harder than

leaving Columbus. Make sure you give

Morgan a big hug before you leave, she

will need it more than anyone. Do not

date any boys until high school, unless

they treat you right. Don’t join the club

your friends make in seventh grade to

leave people out, it will only cause drama.

Treat everyone around you the way you

want to be treated. Don’t worry about

what is cool in junior high, do what

makes you laugh. Do not go into high

school with a boyfriend. Take your time

and meet new people you have never met

before. Go to all your school dances;

don’t miss a single one of them. Even

though you are growing up, spend time

with your family. Sophomore year stay

strong, don’t get down, your mom will be

okay. When grandma tries to help you

pick out your dress, appreciate her. Do

not trust anyone too easily, even if they

treat you right. Especially treat people

how you want to be treated junior year.

Do not let anyone out of your life you are

not willing to lose. Take softball very

seriously, and listen to your dad. He is

only trying to help you. Senior year you

may be feeling lonely, but stand up for

yourself. Do not let anyone hurt you and

you don’t hurt anyone. Maybe someone

will be worth the pain, but that is for you

to decide for yourself. Rekindle as many

relationships as you can before you go off

to college. More than anything spend time

with your grandma Bonnie, you are her

entire world and she only wants to be with

you and Nash. You will learn a lot about

yourself over the years, but it can only

make you stronger for your bright future.

From,

you.

oldest sibling, I am the one

who takes most of the faults.

My punishments are usually set

in stone for my brother to

learn from. I believe that this

makes my brother a better

person because he has learned

from my mistakes. Not only

has he learned from my life

experiences, but my parents

I am a sister to my little broth-

er, Nash. Because I have lived

with two men my whole life, I

was more of a tomboy than

most girls. Having a brother

made me have to stand up for

myself on my own. As we

fought, not often, but when we

did, I would have to defend

myself against him. As the

have also. My parents now

know what classes to take in

high school, how to go about

college, how to be successful in

sports, all sorts of things that

they have learned as I grew up

and can now help my brother.

Though sometimes I could be

stubborn about the role I play

in my family, I would never

want to have it any other way. I

appreciate the life I have had as

the older sister to my little

brother.

Letter to Me

Family Roles Now

ally go skiing, tubing, wake-

boarding, and knee boarding.

My favorite is knee boarding,

but my brother’s is skiing. Both

of us are intermediate at wake-

boarding, but we enjoy watch-

ing our dad tear it up. Soon

after we are done with that we

park in the main cove and sun-

bathe. After about an hour of

swimming and tanning there

we head back in and help

grandma make an enormous,

yummy dinner. Later, we al-

ways get together and play all

sorts of card games. I love the

time my family spends together

and I cherish it very much

while I can. I know our tradi-

tions will continue throughout

my lifetime.

Family Memory— Pre Change

Lake House, the place my fam-

ily calls home during the sum-

mer. Our visits consist of the

same daily routines every time.

The hour and a half drive there

my brother and I spend playing

the ABC game. Once we arrive

grandma makes us our favorite

lunches, then it is off to the

water we go. The day is then

made of water sports. We usu-

“If you don't like

something, change it.

If you can't change it,

change your attitude.”

—Unknown

Maddy Rodabaugh Volume 1, I ssue 1


Tubing:

Tubing with my family is always fun. Grandpa always

tries to scare us and whip us off the tube, but the best

memories I have of tubing are with my friends.

Grandma’s cooking:

Every time I go to the lake my grandma will make a big

dinner with many different options. It is always some-

thing we all enjoy and she always has a delicious des-

sert to eat.

Rope swing:

The rope swing at my lake house has always been sig-

nificant to my family. The rush you get from climbing

to the top of the hill, grasping the handle scared you

may slip, and letting go. The fall is always scary, but it

is so entertaining.

Jetskiing:

My grandpa and my dad used to take me on the jet ski

as a kid. They would try to make me fall off and we

would usually end up going back to the house with me

crying. Now I drive my friends on it and I try to make

them fall off.

My dogs:

My puppies love the water. All the dogs my family has

ever had can swim. The memories of my first dog ever,

Duke, swimming with my family are some of the best

memories at the lake.

Wakeboarding:

Though I still am not good at wakeboarding, I love my

watch my dad do it. We typically make fun of him and

laugh, even though he truly is good.

Driving there:

The drive to the lake always consists of good family

talks. Often, my brother will complain the he is car sick,

but we will just roll down the window and tell him to

suck it up.

Playing cards:

After dinner and football games every night, my grand-

ma will make everyone play cards. We usually start off

being annoyed and end up not going to be until late

because we had so much fun.

Floating:

My day at the lake typically starts off by grabbing a raft

and floating by the dock. My brother and I will wait for

the adults to come down and bring the radio, then we all

sit around and listen to music and chat in the water.

The beach:

The beach at the lake is my biggest childhood pastime.

Grandma used to take me there to play at the park when

I was bored, and to this day that park is my favorite

park to exist.

Top Ten: Favorite Lake Activities

If I had to put together a time cap-

sule to explain myself I would put

several of my personal belongings

inside of it. First, I would put my

softball mit inside. Although, it is

not completely fastened and has

several holes in it, it has always

been by my side to play the game I

love. All my coaches have told me

that I need to invest in a new mit,

but I never have and I most likely

never will. For my second item I

would put my life jacket inside. I

use the same pink life jacket every

time I go to my lake house. This

would remind me of all the good

times I have had with my family,

friends, and boyfriend at the lake.

Just looking at the jacket reminds

me of my first time skiing, wake-

boarding, tubing, going off the rope

swing, jumping off the diving board,

driving the jet ski, and kayaking

across the entire lake. I never want

to forget the warm summer days and

nights at my lake house. Head-

phones would be my third item in-

serted into my time capsule. Head-

phones seem very cliché, but music

has helped me through lots of situa-

tions. Whenever my brother pur-

posely chews with his mouth open,

or when my mom talks too much,

and also when my dad yells at me

about sports. Music always calms me

down and allows me to tune out the

realities of my life. My curling wand

would be my next item I would put

into the time capsule. This is signifi-

cant to me because whenever I fully

curl my hair, I know it is going to be

a good night. Concerts, school danc-

es, softball game days, no matter what

it is I know it is going to be an event I

will not forget. For my last item I

would put a picture of my dogs inside

my capsule. There is a quote that goes

“A dog is the only thing on earth that

loves you more than themselves.”

When I saw this quote it almost put

me in tears. Even though my dogs can

be wild and annoying, they are always

there for me even when I’m mean to

them. It seems cheesy, but when I

have a bad day they jump on my bed

and cuddle with me until I fall asleep

and I appreciate that more than they

will ever know.

turn out to be a win we

would never forget.

It was my sophomore

year and I played as the starting

shortstop for the team. The

game began tremendously; it

was warm with sunshine, my

perfect playing weather. I re-

member crouching in my bus

seat, soaking up in my head-

phones, and my heart racing.

During our warm-ups I at-

tempted to block out the fans

Softball has played an immense

role in my life ever since I can

remember. For the first time in

Fishers High School Softball

history we advanced past

round one of sectionals. We

beat Zionsville in extra innings

to continue to game two,

which was HSE. After such an

exhilarating game against the

Eagles, our team was pumped

to play the Royals. This would

who were watching, just for

the sake of nerves. Walking

onto the field for the first in-

ning and feeling my metal

cleats push into the crisp dirt is

a feeling I could never forget.

The minute I threw the last out

of the game my world col-

lapsed. Everything grew dark

and blurry, and I fell to the

dirt. After the hardest fought

battle we have all ever gone

through, we pulled out a late

win. Then, it hit me and all I

could do was smile.

Time Capsule

Best School Memory





—Barak Obama


What Will I Miss the Most?

Change Itself

Lessons Learned Before Change Begins

After experiencing

many obstacles in my life, the

one thing I will miss most is

the simple fact of being a kid.

As children we are pampered,

free food, a free home, and

free time. Though at times I

may feel my life is chaotic and

a bit hard to handle, it is not.

Once I get out into the real

world, life is going to hit me in

the face. Always paying for our

own things, living alone, and

going to a job everyday will all

affect a person. The way of life

in America is that we are raised

by our parents, we go to high

school to learn for college, we

go to college to learn about life

and our job, and then after

college we are thrown out into

a scary world completely alone.

I have come to terms with this

American expectation, but

sometimes I wish I had a little

bit longer to be a kid.

time. Throughout my formal

education I have also learned

to cherish every moment with

the people you adore in your

life, you never know when it all

could be taken away. I have

learned this from many of my

peers who have lost loved ones

over the years I have known

them. Instead of looking back

on school and thinking of the

boring times, I think I will look

back on how much I will miss

it. I will look back and remem-

ber all the things it has taught

me and I will carry those les-

sons with me forever.

Although school

comes off as a tedious, irritat-

ing place, it has taught me a lot

about my future. I have learned

to put forth your best effort at

all times. This should not only

be done with school work, but

with sports as well. This in-

cludes studying, finishing and

understanding homework, and

practicing during your free

was always “I’m only a... I don’t

know.” This year I have realized that

I need to start taking care of myself.

It has been hard for me to grasp that

when I have a bad day, my parents

won’t directly be there to comfort

me. I also wasn’t fond of the fact that

I would be sleeping in any other place

than my bed every night. There’s so

many things that I have had to come

Transitioning from being a

laid back high school student to a

young adult was the biggest change

for me. Recognizing that is was time

to grow up was hard on me. Apply-

ing to college and the thought of

living alone was all so scary. I re-

member people asking me, “What

college do you want to go to?” As

anything, but a senior, my response

to terms with this year in order to

prepare myself for the future years

of my life. Fortunately, right now I

have been able to soak up my time

as a kid and my life as it will never

be again. Preparing myself for my

young adult hood has been the

biggest, obvious change in my life.





—Ghandi


On September 11, 2001 I was

only a first grader. I do not remember

the day very well, but the story now sad-

dens me. I am intrigued by what hap-

pened that day. I love watching videos

and recreations of how the tragedy went

down. I can only imagine if I was a fami-

ly member or friend of one of the heroes

or victims that day. Throughout my life-

time 9-11 would have to be the largest

tragedy. It is even sadder to me that no

remains were found from the situation. I

could not even imagine never seeing a

loved one again, not even at their funer-

al. 9-11 has intrigued me to say “I love

you” to my parents every time

I am on the phone or leaving

them.

http://

www.nytimes.com/2013/05/0

2/nyregion/no-human-

remains-found-in-new-search-

near-ground-zero.html?

ref=sept112001&_r=0

watching them closely enough? Maybe some

parents are sheltering their children too much

as well. We will never know and there are too

many opinions in the world to define and

answer to this.

http://parentingteens.about.com/

b/2008/11/14/teens-today-vs-previous-

generations.htm

Though many adults and elderly people diss

on teenages this year, I stand up for us. Yes

you could say that the attitudes of teenagers

have changed over time, but why are the kids

to blame? Don’t the parents raise them? Par-

ents need to be put more to blame for chil-

dren’s actions now a days. Sure, kids seem to

only be focused on illegal actions and such

today, but is that because the parents are not

Personal Reflections on World Events— 9/11

Personal Reflections on Pop Culture— Teens Now & Then

got to me the most. She shoved her

children into cabinets and risked her

own life for them when she came face

to face with the evil gunman. This

situation had grabbed all the hearts of

America, and had changed the ways

many school go about lockdowns.

http://www.cnn.com/

interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-hook-

timeline/index.html

Sandy Hook Reflection

The Sandy Hook Elementary shoot-

ing was a sad time for America.

Though, I do not cry very easily, I

did in this situation. My heart goes

out to all of the families and chil-

dren who have lost loved ones. Of-

ten we hear about school tragedies,

but not in an Elementary school.

Over 20 people were killed in this

situation, many of them being chil-

dren. The story about Rebecca Soto





—Lao Tzu


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/nyregion/no-human-remains-found-in-new-search-near-ground-zero.html?ref=sept112001&_r=0






Vogue

Art Reflection— Photography

Art Reflection— One of Those Nights– Tim McGraw

On the cover of this magazine

page is Kate Upton wearing her favorite

bombshell. This goes to show the fash-

ion changes throughout generations. I

am not against the changes, I just think

they are very large. No one ten years ago

would have thought of a bra that chang-

es your cup size two sizes. Along with

that, no one would have thought that

short, shorts are in style, or low cut v-

necks. America is very focused on their

looks now a days. If you have a decent

body, you are almost expected to show

it off in some sort of way. I am not

against today’s society because I am a

part of it, but I can see the obvious

differences in the generations likes.

http://www.vogue.com/magazine/

iniscing the next morning on

how funny or fun something

we did was. This song is mainly

about a boy and girl together,

but I look at it from a different

standpoint. Tim McGraw does

a good job in making it more

than just the boy and girl by

saying, “Crowded backyard,

everybody's laughing. Kinda

party, next week you'll say I

was there when it happened.

Coming up on midnight, bout

time to get gone and then the

DJ starts to play your favorite

song. You slow dance for 3

minutes or so, and then she

whispers, "Baby, let's go.” This

is the part that most gives me

flashbacks of my high school

careehttp://

www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/

Tim McGraw has

always been one of my favorite

country singers. This song’s

chorus makes me think of my

high school career. “This is

gonna be one of those nights..”

makes me think about all of

the good times I have had with

my family and friends. It makes

me think about having a fun

night with my friends and rem-

break consisted of many laughs

with these girls. In the picture

is Zoey Csereszynes, Alexis

Williams, Christine Graham,

Katie Sherman, and myself. We

all got dressed up to go out to

the beach and decided it was

about time we all got a picture

together. This was definitely

“one of those nights.”

This picture reminds me of

one of the best weeks of my

life. Throughout high school I

have had the same four best

friends. The five of us have

stuck together for quite some

time now. This was the first

picture we got of all five of us

together and it happened to be

taken on spring break. Spring


My portfolio is organized simply. This is by articles dealing with

myself, leading into articles about what I plan to do in the future,

going into my personal reflections, and lastly my official future

plans.

@maddyrodabaugh

process, I want to find someone that I am willing to spend

the rest of my life with. Once I find that person and open

my business I want to have children. I want to live in the

suburbs right outside of a nice city with many activities to

do. The older I get the more goals I find myself wanting to

accomplish. I believe having goals is healthy and helps peo-

ple to be successful in life.

I have many

goals and aspirations in my upcoming future. While attend-

ing Transylvania University I want to take the softball team

to the College World Series every year that I am there. I

want to be a Division III All-American. Later in life I want

to be admitted to graduate school, though I am not sure

where yet, that has always been one of my dreams. After

school, I want to become a physical therapist and open my

own business. Throughout this entire goal accomplishing

Future Plans— Let the Change Begin

“Things CHANGE. And friends leave. Life

doesn't stop for anybody.” —Stephen Chbosky

Senior Val Portfolio

senior portfolio

Documents