Madeline Scott (C ’26) has taken it upon herself to make sure everyone feels safe and seen at Penn. Whether playing frisbee, making gourmet drinks at Williams Cafe, or working as an instructor with Penn Anti–Violence Education, she constantly works to build strong communities and be an advocate for all. Above all, Madeline finds joy in putting herself at her community’s disposal, whatever that looks like in the moment.
Name: Madeline Scott
Hometown: Bucks County, Pa.
Field of Study: Major in health and societies
Activities: Women’s Club Ultimate Frisbee Team, Penn Anti–Violence Education, Sport Club Council, Penn Campus Recreation, Williams Cafe
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I ask, “Tell me about yourself?”
Well, my biggest involvement here at Penn is being the captain of the Women’s Club Ultimate Frisbee team, VENUS. This is my second year as captain, and it’s really represented my Penn experience in a nutshell. It’s the community I’m most aligned with and with which I spend the most time. I’m always plugging frisbee and telling people to join.
What is it like being a club athlete here at Penn? How did you discover that interest?
It’s actually a little bit of a crazy story! My parents met playing Ultimate Frisbee in the late ’90s, so I always grew up around it but never really played. There’s a really big Philly Ultimate Frisbee scene. I was a runner in high school, but I got a bit tired of that and was ready to switch it up when I came to college. My dad was pretty adamant that I give VENUS a shot, and I loved it right away. It’s a really welcoming, spirited sport and a great space for everybody. While it’s technically a club team, there is no NCAA division for frisbee, so the highest level you can reach is pretty much club Ultimate Frisbee. I equate the commitment in terms of practices to the same as a high school sport, but being on leadership, I spend the bulk of my time doing work for the team. There’s lots of logistics, planning, and decision–making that leadership is responsible for. We also try to plan social events that are fun and welcoming for all. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it and think it was worth it. Also, it’s really fun to see a different iteration of the team every year. Turnover is so quick on any college team, but VENUS always remains such a welcoming and supportive community.
You mentioned that you’re involved in sexual violence prevention and consent education on campus. How’d you first get involved in that work?
I first got involved when I was in a gender studies seminar. As with many gender studies classes, the project I had to complete was pretty open–ended. I chose to focus on Penn’s sexual violence prevention education programs and workshops during New Student Orientation. I was interested in this particularly because I found out that there used to be no consent education in place, and I wanted to hear about the changes that Penn had made. I interviewed the PAVE supervisor at the time, Ty Rizzo, to hear more about the mandatory consent workshops. Ty taught me about the importance of updating these workshops each year to make them more relevant and ensure students feel more comfortable participating. I ended up applying to be an educator myself after this conversation.
This will be my second year as an educator, and I’ve definitely learned a lot about myself through discussing topics that are important but that may also be uncomfortable. I always want to work towards creating a safer and more supportive environment on campus. A lot of people come into college without a lot of background knowledge on topics like consent and healthy relationships, so it's important to have these conversations in order to build the safest possible environment here on campus. It’s been really meaningful over the past year to see, even within a short timeframe, the changes that these conversations can bring about. I always think it’s important to teach with passion, because even if people do not remember exactly what you taught, they will remember your passion for the topic and hopefully share that sentiment.
And what is it like working at Williams Cafe?
I was a barista there for three years. It served as a home on campus for me, and I worked with an amazing group of people. I loved being able to serve the Penn community, whether that was regular student customers or professors, and form relationships with them. I was the longest–serving barista and a shift supervisor as well, which I loved because I got to teach new people how to get acquainted with the job. I would say one of my favorite parts of the job was getting to take aux and make really fun playlists for everyone to listen to!
Who’s been a role model for you in any field?
My mom, without a doubt. She’s a rockstar. She’s a high school chemistry teacher, and, funnily enough, she works at the same school I went to. She taught my honors and AP chemistry classes in high school. It was an all–girls high school, and my mom really takes the time to build up her students. For example, a lot of girls have the tendency to apologize for things that they don’t need to be apologizing for. She has this “unneces–sorry” tally on her board, teaching girls that they do not need to be unnecessarily apologetic. She is an amazing teacher, and her students have the highest AP score average in the high school. She takes hard topics and makes them manageable to digest. I realized how special of a teacher she was when I got to college and saw that not all professors can make chemistry seem so easy. She used to come to campus to help me understand my chemistry class in my first year, and every time, it made the topics seem so much simpler. I see the extra hours that she puts into tutoring students. Every time I go home, the first thing she wants to talk about is her class and how her students are doing. Over the course of college, as I have grown more into myself, I’ve realized I’m a lot like my mom in a lot of ways. I take it as a big compliment when other people see that too.
What are some challenges you’ve faced at Penn?
A lot of my time at Penn has been about figuring out what I want to do and not what others want for me. I can definitely tend to be a people pleaser. When I first came to Penn, I said I wanted to be pre–med because that is what people told me I would be good at. But since getting here, I have made an effort to act for myself. For example, I now know that I’d much rather pursue a career in public health and social work, and I hope to get a dual master’s degree in those fields post graduation. I also look totally different now than I thought I would have looked like as a first year. I’m really happy about that, but it has taken a lot of working through unrealistic expectations for me to get where I am today. I have worked toward finding my identity here, and I realized I was queer while at Penn. I have found so many supportive spaces here on campus, and the communities I have built in the past three years at Penn have helped me throughout my time here.
Lightning round:
Soundtrack to your life/fav song? Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen
Favorite thing to do out in Philly? Play frisbee
Favorite place on campus? The barista side table at Wilcaf
Favorite quote? Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
There are two types of people at Penn … those who walk slowly on Locust Walk, and those who don’t.
And you are? Definitely the latter; I’m from the East Coast and am not the biggest fan of slow walkers.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Do you know that one senior who brings a smile to everyone’s face, or always has the craaaziest stories? It’s time to give them the recognition they deserve. Ego of the Week seeks to showcase seniors not for their grades or any other academic construct, but for who they are as a person and the joy they bring to the people around them! Nominate your favorite Penn seniors for Ego of the Week!
