As a D1 athlete on the South Carolina State Equestrian team and an academically motivated senior, Madison Burlett juggles school and sports in a busy and often exhausting schedule.

“Well, I go down to the barn Friday night,” she said. “And I ride Friday night. then I ride Saturday morning, and then I come home.”

On weeks with competitions, she can stay at the barn up to 8 days watching and performing. Despite long and taxing days at the barn, Madison still manages to weave school, social life, and hobbies in between her equestrian endeavors.

“I make fun of my brother a lot,” she said. “And when I have time I also like shopping.” 

As a high school student, Madison pushes her self academically by taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes and also tries to be present to the little joys in life. One of her goals after high school is to become a biomedical engineer which involves creating prosthetics and parts for machines. Madison has won numerous equestrian awards and has succeeded at Chelsea academically, but remains humble despite her accomplishments.

“No, I don’t like just little things. I just kind of go where the wind pushes me, I guess. I like to go with the flow,” Madison said.

When asked about the stress many seniors face in their final year of high school, she once again presented her laid-back and imperturbable attitude.

“Senior year is not nearly as stressful as junior year, because we don’t really have any standardized tests,” she said. “But school is going to be stressful no matter what because you have to know what you’re doing now.”