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Southwestern valedictorian's next adventure starts at Purdue

Maggie Goodin has been lucky enough to travel the world at such a young age. The Southwestern High School valedictorian’s next adventure keeps her closer to home in West Lafayette at Purdue University.

The daughter of engineers, Purdue always seemed like the perfect fit. Only Goodin could not see herself following a similar educational track. Instead, she will major in Pharmacy.

“Both my parents are engineers and I’ve always been a STEM person so originally I was thinking engineering,” said Goodin. “I toured (Purdue) my freshman year (of high school), loved the campus, it’s a great school and I felt at home. By my senior year, I switched to pharmacy and got lucky because (Purdue) has an amazing pharmacy (program).”

As to where a pharmacy degree takes her is still unknown.

“I am seeing what options are available,” she said. “Maybe a clinical pharmacist in a hospital setting, I could go the medical school route or go the psychologist route or OBGYN.”

Goodin wrapped up the valedictorian honor at the semester break though she admitted it was not an ultimate goal of her time at Southwestern.

“I was not striving to be No. 1 or No. 2,” said Goodin. “I was just trying to do my best in classes. Over time, it became more of a goal or expectation. We (Goodin and salutatorian Faith Kelley) always just wanted to do the most with our education.”

 

 

Part of Goodin’s education has come from traveling to approximately two dozen foreign countries with her family. She lists Thailand and Morocco as two of her favorite places.

That experience with foreign cultures spurred her to revitalize the Culture Club at Southwestern High School.

“I got to bring a lot of knowledge on diversity and foreign cultures,” said Goodin.

The future Boilermaker is spending her summer working as a camp counselor at the Flat Rock River YMCA camp in St. Paul. She started the day after graduation.

A frequent visitor to the camp growing up, she is honored to now serve as a counselor and mentor younger children.

“I’ve always wanted to be a counselor here but there are limited spots available for female counselors,” said Goodin, who is responsible for up to as many as a dozen campers each week.

Goodin appreciates her time at the camp and her experiences at Southwestern which will carry on with her to Purdue.

“It’s a small school with a graduating class of 36 … insanely small,” she said. “With it being so small, it is awesome how it’s a family-style school. It was especially helpful with the classes. It allowed the teachers more time to work with you 1-on-1.”

(This is the 10th and final feature story highlighting the Class of 2022 valedictorians and salutatorians from the five Shelby County high schools.)

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