Hailing from McComb, Madelyn Phillips is a senior at MSMS who loves helping people, all things yellow and Walt Disney. Phillips is the embodiment of kindness and color.

“When I was younger, I’d never met a stranger, so I would just randomly go talk to people for no reason in public in a place I’d never been to before. I would find a way to make a friend with someone,” Phillips said. “I want to be the person that someone can come talk to; I want to be warm. I want to be welcoming to people, and I want them to know they have someone in their corner.”

Light follows Phillips around wherever she goes. Her energy impacts everyone around, whether it is just in day-to-day interactions or in her leadership roles on campus.

“There hasn’t been a time where I’ve seen Maddie without a smile on her face. She’s just always joyful and welcoming and knows how to make anyone feel important,” junior Hilldana Tibebu said. “Her passion for FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students) makes her devotion felt on a personal level.”

Ever since she was a child, Phillips said she recognized her competitive nature and drive. She’s not easily deterred and her personal motivation has deep roots.

“I’m very determined in everything that I do, I don’t tend to give up no matter what. It comes from being a middle kid I guess. Put a challenge in front of me and I’m going to conquer it or I’m going to come out bloody and bruised from trying,” Phillips said.

Chemistry teacher Kaye Truitt said Phillips is a model student with an admirable outlook on life.

“Madelyn is a conscientious and excellent student who was a bright spot for me in a very difficult time as a teacher. She was always prepared for class and participated in discussions and kept a positive perspective in the midst of stress and even sickness,” Truitt said. “I definitely looked forward to seeing her in class every day. She is a great communicator and an even better encourager, both to teachers and her peers.”

Phillips has dreams for her future that have adapted over time. The persona Phillips presents to the world is cultivated from her role models whose messages range greatly.

“Dolly Parton is definitely one of them [a personal influence]. Her kindness that … just oozes out of her every single day and her music and personality make her such a wonderful woman,” Phillips said. “Another person is Walt Disney because I grew up just watching all these Disney movies and absorbing all the different Disney culture. For me, it’s his quote ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’ that kept me going last year during COVID. And of course my mom and my dad who have always supported me in everything I’ve done.”

Phillips’s personal identity centers itself around kindness, warmth, tea and a passion against Jeep Trucks.

“We should get rid of Jeep Trucks. We should agree as a human race to get rid of them. They just don’t make sense,” Phillips said.

It’s no secret that Phillips makes an effort to show kindness to everyone around her. Her positive attitude is something she wears on her sleeve.

“I remember when I first met Maddie she just had this huge smile on her face and she looked like a genuinely happy person. Within a few seconds of being near her, you can tell that she’s just this happy-go-lucky gal,” junior Addie White says.

As Phillips travels farther into her senior year at MSMS, she’s learned some important lessons: “My final message to the world is to take care of yourself, and for the love of God don’t buy a Jeep Truck,” Phillips said.