by Trevor Hass
Sports Reporter
Every valedictorian has certain study tactics that help them maintain their high grade point average.
For some, that means cranking out homework in school during downtime. For others, it means not getting stressed even as the work piles up. Rogers High valedictorian Michaela Taddeini employs both those tactics, but she also has a third, less common method that she said has helped her through some difficult times.
“You can’t live longa without the medulla oblongata.”
That’s just one example of a number of catchy phrases Taddeini sang to herself to retain information. Digesting material from dense textbooks can be tedious, so Taddeini spices things up by adding a jingle to the phrases and making sure they stick.
It’s an approach that sums her up – a witty, outgoing, well-rounded student who doesn’t fit the mold of a stereotypical valedictorian. In addition to maintaining a 4.135 GPA, Taddeini is also a volleyball team manager and member of the track team. She’ll attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison next year, where she’ll pinpoint a major and embark on her next journey.
“I’m not really a typical valedictorian,” Taddeini said. “I’ve never been the person who’s really stressed out about school or anything. I just tried my best and it worked out.”
For many strong students, parents can play a key role in ensuring schoolwork is completed. Taddieni said her parents had a big influence on her, but more so by providing a hands-off approach and letting her navigate through her coursework by herself.
She said they’re not overbearing and don’t hover around her, and that’s helped her stay intrinsically motivated throughout high school. Taddeini studies about an hour a night, give or take, not because people are making her, but because she holds herself to a high standard.
“When you’re around her, she’s very, very mature for her age,” Taddeini’s track coach and English teacher, Amanda Oie, said. “She also knows when to get to work and put in that dedication to do well.”
Taddeini said she’s better at math and science than she is at English, adding that – though she’s not the best at it – art is something she’s enjoyed dabbling in throughout high school. Jewelry was her favorite class because of the freedom she had to create whatever she wanted. She said she struggled at making clay creations, but she still enjoyed that class.
She took Advanced Placement Human Geography freshman year, AP Statistics sophomore year, AP English junior year and AP Calculus and AP English senior year. Calculus was her most challenging course, she said, but her only A- throughout all of high school came in stats.
“I was like, ‘Darn,’ she said, smiling. “But it wasn’t even close to an A.”
While Taddeini has thrived in the classroom, she’s also enjoyed the opportunity to play on and manage the volleyball team and compete in long jump and triple jump on the track team. She said she enjoys the actual sport of volleyball more, but she’s better at track than she is at volleyball.
Even with those extra-curricular activities, Taddeini still managed to excel academically.
“Sometimes I put things off too long, and things are due the next day and I freak out,” she said, “but for the most part, I think I manage my stress pretty well.”