About Me

Hello! My name's Madeline — but you can call me Maco.

I'm a multimedia journalist and long-time musical performer based in East Lansing with occasional work in Chicago.

I grew up in Stickney, Illinois, and later settled down in Orland Park for most of my teenage and young adult life. I began performing at seven years old, when I played a graverobber in A Christmas Carol with my local community theatre — ever since then, I haven't gone longer than a month without being on the stage!

In high school, I found a great passion for reporting after joining the Model United Nations team and later becoming the Secretary General. During my time at Carl Sandburg Highschool, I learned how to effectively balance content production, competition and musicianship.

I'm a soprano who has performed in various operas including The Magic Flute (First Spirit) and The Grapes of Wrath (Ruthie). Outside of theatrical productions, I'm also a cover artist, composer and arranger, with my work being performed often by groups like State of Fifths acapella. In 2026, my vocal arrangement of What Now by Rihanna was nominated for a special award at ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate Acapella).

I currently work as the News Director at Impact89FM, one of the nation's largest student-run stations and the national college audio outlet of the year (2025). During my time with Impact89FM, I also wrote, directed and produced the original six-episode podcast Your Host available on streaming sites now.

In 2024, I had the opportunity to attend the ACP (Associated Collegiate Press) conference to accept the Pacemaker award for Impact89FM and engaged in daily panels hosted by nationally recognized journalists.

In 2025, my written and audio news feature Abandoned buildings and MSU relics: A deep-dive with director of campus archaeology program Stacey Camp was named First Place at the MAB (Michigan Association of Broadcasters) awards and Second Place at the National Student Media Conference.

Also in 2025, I traveled to Todi, Italy for a three-week summer study abroad program where I studied Italian language and opera singing for six hours a day.

I'm constantly pushing myself to learn new things! The MSU Journalism program has offered me the chance to get hands-on experience with practical and fast-paced reporting, molding my fiery drive into technical skills and real results. Similarly, the MSU College of Music provides endless opportunities to perform and shape my vocal abilities.

I'm not all work — I have a deep love of seals, I write poetry and horror fiction, I enjoy listening to indie music and can often be found playing video games with my friends!

I'm dedicated to providing a voice for marginalized people through all storytelling I do, and hope to continue creating things that matter.

News Director

Impact89FM, East Lansing MI

Aug 2023 — Present

• Managed a staff of 8 paid employees and 12 total members for weekly creation and publication of written and audio news

• Wrote 17 articles covering topics like presidential election coverage, climate change legislation, college campus organizations and campus social events

• Edited two staff and freelance articles per week for accuracy and format to be published

• Recorded and edited news audio content and voiceovers using a recording studio 

• Wrote, directed, edited audio for and produced original six-episode podcast 

• Created and customized content to promote station podcasts for platforms including Instagram, X, Facebook, Bluesky and Threads

Educational Experience

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Aug 2023 — Present

• Filmed and edited feature news packages using Sony DSLR, Canon EOS and iPhone, culminating in a full package ideated, filmed and edited in 3 hours (JRN 206)

• Recorded over 10 interviews per semester with wired and wireless lavalier mics, recording booths

• Delivered professional on-air performances by anchoring weekly newscasts, provided original footage and teleprompter scripts for each broadcast (JRN 306)

• Ran board operations for live broadcast news shows, including audio and video monitoring (JRN 306)

• Photographed multiple photo essays and journalistic photos for news stories (JRN 203)

• Created multimedia news packages using ASFs and visual data (JRN 203)

Crew Trainer

McDonald's, Orland Park, IL

June 2020 — Present

• Utilized interpersonal and customer service skills with customers and coworkers

• Transitioned between work roles, including: cashier, bagger, fry cook, store opening and closing duties

• Trained new employees in customer service practices in order to improve customer experience