For Bishop McNamara senior Madison Bridges, her future is under water – literally. After graduating as a top student from the Brothers of the Holy Cross-sponsored high school in Forestville, Maryland, she will attend the University of Delaware where she will major in marine biology.
“I would like to be a biology major, specifically focusing on marine biology and oceanography,” she said. “Ever since the third grade, when we would watch those National Geographic ocean documentaries in science class, I have always been captivated by our oceans here on
Earth and what life is like under the water.”
To that end, she has volunteered for oyster cage cleanup through the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Save the Bay program. At the age of 15, she gained her official Open-Water Diving Certification. She served an internship at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and completed scientific dive training at the University of Delaware.
“I've always loved everything about the ocean, which is exactly why when I grow up, I aspire to be a marine biologist,” she said. “It’s still so incredibly fascinating to me how there are so many different creatures (there) … I'm always finding myself wanting to discover more and more about our oceans and how we can protect the species that live in it.”
As a future marine biologist, Bridges said she is drawn to conservation efforts: “I want to learn all about various aquatic species and their
habitats so that I can better understand how to protect them.”
She is also active in Black Girls Dive (BGD), an organization that teaches young Black girls how to scuba dive along with instruction in other marine science based skills, which provided her with “a small community full of girls who looked like me and had the same interests and love for marine science.”
“It is so meaningful to me because my passion has always been
marine science ever since I was little; BGD offered me a place where my passion could grow and thrive into something even bigger,” she said.
Her being a certified scuba diver in both freshwater and saltwater environments, she added, enables her “to be able to actually go
underwater into various marine environments such as coral reefs and view different marine animals in their natural habitats rather than simply at a zoo or aquarium.”
On land, Bridges has been active in community outreach efforts and participating in religious, social and athletic endeavors.
She has served as a peer minister at McNamara, serves as a lector at school Masses and has helped lead the school’s Kairos retreats. She is the co-founder and secretary of the Closer 2 God Fellowship there and is active in her youth group at St. Edward the Confessor Parish in Bowie, Maryland.
Bridges has volunteered with the Capital Area Food Bank, the Maryland Senior Olympics organization, Catholic Charities’ St. Maria’s Meals and the Mt. Jezreel Christian School in Silver Spring, Maryland.
She also spent three summers as a camp counselor and volunteer at Friends Community School in College Park, Maryland, helping teach campers about the ocean, wilderness survival and protecting the Earth.
Of her experiences, she said she “had to learn the importance of meeting people where they are at and understanding that every person's voice deserves to be heard.”
At McNamara, she has been a member of the Fall Student-Athlete Leadership Council, president of and tutor with the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors Society, two-time captain of the school’s cross country team, member of the Senior Class Cabinet, student ambassador and member of the Poetry Club.
“Poetry Club has really helped break me out of my shell and has furthered my love for writing, because I am constantly
around people who consistently support me,” she said. “I genuinely enjoy running track because it is a sport where I feel I am constantly growing and strengthening myself both physically and mentally every time I step on the track.”
While she is confident in what she does about and below sea level, Bridges sees herself submerged in her passion for the water.
“In 10 years, I see myself having graduated college working in Hawaii or Bermuda as a marine biologist studying coral and marine mammals,” she said. “I see myself going out on research vessels to scuba dive out in the open ocean and larger coral reefs, too. I would love to also join conservationists and other oceanic protection organizations and travel to different places in the world to promote marine conservation.”
