Hello everybody!
Translate to your language by selecting from the box~:
USA250 Journal Project
Personal Chronicle: July 4, 2025 – July 5, 2026
A gift for reflection. A record of now. A story for what’s next.
✍️ Who am I?
I’m Madison Whitmore. Maddie.
Eighteen. Cheer captain. Early decision to Emory.
My mom says I’ve always been “a joy.” My teachers say I’m “a leader.”
My Instagram says I glow. My Notes app says I’m falling apart.
I’m the girl who smiles in every yearbook photo and gets asked to “say a few words” at school events.
I’m the girl who checks her reflection three times before walking into a room.
I’m the girl who’s been told she has a bright future—so long as she doesn’t make any messes along the way.
And now? I’m the girl with a secret that won’t stay quiet.
Who am I?
I’m someone who’s been good for so long, I forgot what I wanted.
I’m someone who writes letters to a child I might not keep.
I’m not a mistake.
I’m not a warning.
I’m still becoming.
✍️ How did I get here?
I got here by doing everything right.
By checking every box.
By smiling when I didn’t want to, and staying quiet when I should’ve screamed.
I got here by loving Carter, and trusting that meant we’d figure things out together.
By ignoring how small I’ve felt in conversations where my voice was never the headline.
I got here one week before graduation.
With a test I didn’t study for.
Two lines that changed the script.
I haven’t told my parents.
I haven’t told Tinsley.
I did tell the nurse in the school office.
She didn’t flinch. That helped.
How did I get here?
By letting people decide for me long before there was anything to decide.
By performing perfection so well, I forgot I was acting.
What has life taught me?
That choice is heavier than it looks.
That silence is a decision.
And that maybe breaking the script is the only way to write something true.
Family, Friends & Associates
Greg Whitmore – Father.
Elizabeth Whitmore – Mother.
Ethan Hayes – Boyfriend.
Tinsley Carrington – Friend.
