Hello, my name is Madison Lee, and I am a junior at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. It is my third year at SHCP, and I am excited to explore new opportunities. I have a passion for reading and analyzing many forms of literature, and I am pursuing this passion in my AP Language & Composition course. I am not the best at public speaking, however, I am determined to try new things outside my “comfort zone” which currently includes participating more actively in class discussions. My enjoyment of reading and writing continues to inspires me to learn about the world around me and explore how my academic education is applicable to real life situations. After performing well in my AP Calculus AB class in my sophomore year, I am now taking AP Calculus BC as a junior. I am determined to continue to work hard to achieve my goals and constantly challenge myself. I anticipate that I will struggle quite a bit, but if I push myself, ask questions, and work hard, I will excel in my math class. Continuing to challenge myself, I am also taking AP US History. Some of my goals include having over a 4.0 GPA this year, and I think that with a lot of focus, effort, and determination, I will succeed.

In terms of science, I am excited to be taking Biology Honors as well as another year in the i2 program. As a freshman, I was very grateful to be selected for this prestigious program here at SHC, and I am looking forward to continuing to learn about how creativity can change the world, and how we can be a part of it. Last year, my sister and I took advantage of this shared opportunity to cultivate each other’s interests while creating our i2 project. Our i2 project was centered around increasing the sleep schedules and bettering the mental health of the SHC student population. Through surveys, analysis, and bean bags, we introduced significant benefits to the school in the form of Space-Z: Nap Zones that are now a permanent part of our school’s campus.

Outside of my classes, I am in the AASU (Asian American Student Union), the California Scholarship Federation (volunteering in and outside of school to give back to my community), Book Society, and Badminton club. I am also a co-moderator of SHC’s Science Olympiad team, and we just finished our first competition in Hayward. Outside of school, I enjoy playing basketball with my league team and hanging out with my family. Basketball has always been a supportive environment. I learned that sometimes things look impossible at first, but with patience, it can become possible. The harder something is makes me work even harder to succeed at it. The concept of a team really resonates with me, as it is like a family. I always make time for my family because they are very important to me; I would not be where I am today without them. And I will work my hardest, to the best of my abilities, to be a team player and support my teammates and friends. This drove my passion to want to give back to my community and others around me. I enjoy volunteering at food banks, donating to those in need, and helping at animal shelters. Furthering my desire to give back, I am currently co-leading a math tutoring program with Leah Zheng at my elementary and middle school, Holy Name.

My parents have always taught me to be inquisitive, and asking questions helped me learn about the world around me. They also hoped I would become someone who is able to speak up for myself, yet listen to others and respect their opinions. These concepts have formed many of my own goals, and throughout my high school journey, and as a part of the i2 program, I hope to become someone who makes our world a better place.

MY BLOGS

i2 2023-2024 Project Idea: Math Genies

Leah Zheng and I are developing a math tutoring program to help middle schoolers affected by COVID-19’s educational challenges. Our focus is Holy Name School’s 6th to 8th graders. We aim to connect Sacred Heart Cathedral high schoolers with these younger students, addressing pandemic-induced academic setbacks. Early math learning forms crucial problem-solving skills. With over […] Read more

Space-Z Phase 3+4: Experiment Results and Analysis (February 18-March 28)

In terms of data: We began with our initial survey to collect data to create a positive correlation between amount of sleep and well-being (Well-being: focus and energy levels), while considering other factors that may affect amount of sleep and well-being. We asked students 3 questions: how many hours of sleep they get each night, […] Read more

Space-Z Phase 2: Items and Testing (January 20-February 18)

Once all of our items arrived, we continued our testing phase in the Atrium with all of our items. Initially, I did not set time limits for my teammates. It was on a first-come-first-serve basis; I saw many of my friends sprinting up the stairs to the atrium as soon as school was over to […] Read more

Space-Z Phase 1.5: Considering the Interest of the Student Population (February 8, 2023)

In the beginning, we thought that a nap zone in DePaul would most likely be inefficient, since students were able to relax on the comfortable couches in the lobby and have no interest in our nap zones. However, we didn’t notice that the couches in DePaul are mainly used for studies, and by the end […] Read more

Space-Z Phase 1: Location and Pre-Testing (January 11-26)

After the shark tank, we met with Mr. Standley to talk with him about our potential ideas for nap zone spaces. With his advice, we reached out to Mr. Sazo, one of the deans, to talk with him about our ideas for our i2 project. Early January, he gave us permission to use the upper […] Read more

Space-Z: Shark Tank Reflections November 29, 2022 (Phase 0)

This was the first year Mr. Standley wanted to do a shark tank to make sure students had their i2 projects all thought out by the end of November. A few days before we were set to present to our sharks, Morgan and I polished off the rest of our presentation slides. We had our […] Read more

Beta Testing My Escape Room

Check out what happened during the trials on my website! https://sites.google.com/shcp.edu/i2-25-observations-analysis/home?authuser=0 or scan the QR code at the bottom of my third infographic! *Spoilers on puzzle answers Also a thank you shoutout to Alissa, Zoe, Kiana, Emily, Maddie, Kelly, Brevin, Alexis, Leah, Faith for participating in the run-throughs and for all your support. I really […] Read more

2 Weeks Left...the i2 Showcase

There are about 2 weeks left until the i2 Showcase Celebration, and my project is almost finished. Even in the past few days, I am constantly making revisions due to time constraints, one big change I have made is to not include the Minecraft maze for the participants to find their way through. It was […] Read more

i2 2022 Project Update: Project Escape: Doomsday

My project is going really well, although there were quite a few obstacles along the way. My initial idea for this project was to build a grand escape room for people to test out. What I didn’t realize at first was that it was not going to be possible for me to build a life-sized […] Read more

The i2 Journey Begins

In my application to Sacred Heart Cathedral, I expressed interest in becoming a member of the Inquiry and Innovation program and was excited to learn that I had been accepted. As a new member of i2, I was looking forward to meeting new people who had all come from different schools. Joining the i2 program […] Read more

i2 Projects

Project Escape: Doomsday

Today, many people spend their time looking at their phones and/or on social media constantly looking at what other people say about them and what they say about others; anonymity makes it difficult to recognize the impact of our everyday actions as we "hide" behind our screens. My project aims to have groups of people interact in-person, to analyze whether it makes a difference when people are no longer "protected by the internet" and have to communicate and collaborate in-person, face-to-face...

Project details

Space-Z

In a perfect world, all teenagers would navigate through life, and around obstacles like homework, extra-curricular activities, and jobs to create a good sleep schedule. Unfortunately, most SHC students don’t have the time to get enough sleep. Results from a survey showed that our classmates’ average bedtime is midnight, and some even past that. On school days, they wake up at 6 am to get to school for block 7 or 8’s. That’s only 6 hours of sleep! When you don’t get enough sleep…

Project details

Math Genies

There has been a significant improvement in the mathematical proficiency of middle school students over the past three decades. However, a noticeable decline in their academic performance was observed in 2019, as indicated by the nationwide results of the High School Placement Tests. This regression can be attributed to a lack of motivation and a limited understanding of core mathematical concepts among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented…

Project details