Madyson Kendall pushes past the limits of living in small-town Indiahoma, Okla., by enjoying an out-of-the-box hobby. The 16-year-old participated in two beauty pageants since 2014. In her first pageant, Miss Teen Oklahoma City, she scored in the top 10 out of 75 contestants. At her second pageant, National American Miss, she did not place, but said she enjoyed the competition more because it encouraged confidence and promoted poised behavior.
Madyson’s participation in pageants is not the only interesting thing about her. She also plays piano and sings.
“My favorite song to play on the piano is ‘Fresh Pair of Eyes’ from an episode of ‘Pretty Little Liars.’ It was so pretty, I just needed to learn how to play it,” Kendall said, adding that her favorite song to sing is ‘Waiting Games’ by Banks.
Kendall lives with her grandparents, and one of her brothers. She also has another brother and a sister who live with her dad. Kendall’s mom lives nearby, and the two are very close. Also living in her grandparents house with her are her two cats, Boots and Duce, and her Jack Russell terrier, Toby. She loves her cats, which are brother and sister, but said she is definitely more of a dog person.
There are only 15-20 kids in each grade at Indiahoma High School, according to Kendall. She said the school serves tasty, home-cooked meals at lunch, but it also allows open lunches, during which students can walk to a store to buy food. Though she praised the lunches, one thing Kendall doesn’t like is the lack of electives offered at her school.
“They just added art and music this year,” Kendall said.
Since her school doesn’t offer a newspaper course, Kendall hopes to learn journalism skills through the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism (OIDJ), so she can help her school launch an online publication.
Kendall also came to OIDJ this summer to help her decide on a career path.
“I want to be a lot of things, not just one. Like I could be Miss America, or a news anchor,” she said.
Part of the dream to be Miss America is because of her role model, Lauren Nelson, a woman from Lawton, Okla., who was crowned Miss America in 2007. Since Lawton is very close to Indiahoma, the former Miss America has spoke at Kendall’s church, and the two had the chance to meet.
“Meeting her felt like meeting a celebrity, I thought that I was going to die,” Kendall said. “She always says ‘be yourself, be confident in yourself.’ She also told me that I was beautiful, and that I could change the world.”
