Strange hula hooping senior does it all for Ireland

Senior+Maddy+Clift+perfects+one+of+her+many+hooping+tricks.+

Allison Kruse

Senior Maddy Clift perfects one of her many hooping tricks.

With a truly admirable appreciation for thoughtful irony and a wardrobe of scarves, Clift tackles each day with a sarcastically positive attitude and a fashionably warm neck.

Clift displays a passion for exotic, new, and different cultures, happily speaking both French and Spanish whenever she pleases. Perhaps the most blatant indicator of her willingness to explore various cultures is displayed in her music taste, which starts from The Talking Heads and travels to anywhere including French 50s mixes. After spending a year in Mexico for a foreign exchange program, Clift was completely enlightened to the beauty of other cultures. Accelerated English teacher Jeanne Hackman said, “When she came back from Mexico, her growth was remarkable.”

One growth that Clift displayed after her return from Mexico was a delightfully approachable attitude. “She’s open to new people… She won’t hesitate to go up and introduce herself,” said Hackman. Clift’s close friend, Grace Henderson, fondly report’s Clift’s contagiously pleasant demeanor; she often slips into Henderson’s seventh period class simply to bring her a cup of coffee, “She’s really unique. We’re always doing really different things…She’s a really amazing person.”

Unfortunately, Clift’s time in Mexico set her back a year in academics. She described her fifth (a.k.a super senior) year at SHS as “good, but my pants come up way too high.” Despite the setback, Clift excels in academics, her favourite class being a college course she is taking: Introduction to Film Studies. Hackman describes Clift as a conscientious, compassionate student. “She’s not here to grab a grade… She’s here for the knowledge and the learning,” said Hackman, “she’s open to any challenge.” Clift is known as a passionate student who is always ready to help other students for the sake of a well-learned lesson.

After graduation, Clift is short of set plans: “College is undecided,” she said, but she hopes to travel. For the time being, she’s simply enjoying the town of Sheridan and its many available activities.

One of Clift’s many hobbies, and perhaps the most predominant, is hula-hooping, an underappreciated sport she found herself interested in after she made a couple of hoops out of pipe over the summer and began to practice. Clift has been happily hula-hooping for over four months now, but speculates that she doesn’t know exactly when she’ll move on. “Maybe my next odd craze will be fire baton twirling,” said Clift. Having taught herself over five hooping tricks, Clift often practices her skills at Whitney Park during any time of the day.

Despite her strong, level personality, Clift does have her flaws. After discovering eBay, Clift reports that she fell into a deep perfume addiction. Henderson says, “It’s getting out of hand. I’m worried about her.” Clift refuses to disclose the amount of perfume she owns.

Clift can be found anywhere in the school in the mornings, from the courtyard hula-hooping to the English wing, eccentrically reading Hamlet in one of her many polished accents.

Maddy is the daughter of Michael and Karen Clift.