When we think of smart, the word relatable does not come to mind. It is hard to imagine a person who, on all accounts, appears to be on an entire level mentally, to be “normal.” Sometimes a person’s ambitions separate them from society. Madison Rutherford, AP student, captain of the nationally recognized Robotics Team, and future engineer and business-owner, appears to be much more than the average student, but, at the end of the day, she is still just a high school student.

Ms. Rutherford has a deep love for mathematics, engineering, and science, saying that her favorite subject is “engineering by a lot,” and that “I love math, like advanced math. I love theoretical stuff and learning how to apply it, so Physics was a lot fun last year.”

In addition to STEM subjects, Madison also shows a deep admiration for the Spanish language and plans on majoring in Spanish along with Chemical Engineering, and even say that “ I am planning on eventually owning my own recycling company.”

Many might come to the conclusion that students like Madison Rutherford are simply born and raised to be intelligent, but Madison herself says that “my parents weren’t super into the whole…gifted and talented thing, and they didn’t want to immediately start pushing everything onto me,” and her academic journey was “something I developed overtime.” In fact, Madison admits that “in middle school, I had problems with focusing more, competing, and having the highest grades,” and it was not until “high school I discovered how to learn better and to focus and study.”

While her fascination for Mathematics and Engineering might not be shared by all, Madison does not at all find it difficult to relate to her peers: “Sometimes I feel that people immediately assume that I am going to be socially awkward and difficult to talk to, that I am not going to understand where they are coming from, and I don’t feel that is necessarily true. Usually, if people give me a chance, then I’ll give them a chance, but I think I am a relatable person”

Madison is a staunch upholder of the idea that everybody has their struggles and aptitudes, and says that she herself has to deal with “stereotypes, like the assumption…that I am going to be snobby and elitist. I try not to be. I understand everybody has their own set of talents, and mine just happens to be taking tests.”

Although Madison is one of the school’s most accomplished and gifted AP students, she is not entirely defined her academics, and says that “I feel…my academics are very separate from my personality [; for example,] I really like birds. I really like fantasy novels. I really like horrible movies.” In fact, the most important thing to Madison is not necessarily her classes but what she does outside of them, stating that leading the Robotics Team “is the most important thing I have done at this school,” and “everything [it] has taught me is a lot more valuable than all the AP classes I take.”

So Coronado’s most prominent high-achieving AP student does not even consider herself as that, but rather Madison sees herself as a leader, engineer, and most importantly, friend.