All About Me

Hi-

My name is Maddie Booth, and this is my blog. 

I lived by the red dot that says Heerlen on the southern tip of the NL.

Before coming to Boise State University for college, I lived for eight years in the Netherlands (NL), which if you don't know, is sandwiched in between Belgium and Germany. I am American. I was born in Kentucky, raised in California, but my home has been the NL for the past eight years. My dad got a job offer when I was 10, and we packed up and went to a U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school in the NL. He has taught there for nine years, and I have been lucky enough to live there for eight. Over our years there I was able to travel all around Europe, doing tourist-y things like going to Paris (if you ever go, the Musee d'Orsay is the museum to hit), but also going on trips where I helped build playgrounds for underprivileged children in Romania and the Czech Republic.  

Me and my twin sisters Alex (middle), and Emma (left).
Paris, New Years Eve 2013. 

With this information, you might wonder how a girl born in Kentucky, raised in California, whose home is in Europe might choose to come to Idaho of all places. Well, long story short, my grandparents live here, and after eight years in Europe, Idaho was as close to home as I could get. When thinking about the transition from Europe to America, I knew that I wanted to have some kind of safety net. Starting university was one thing, but to also transition countries and cultures? I knew I wanted to have family nearby, so Boise State University it was. Now, the other side of that coin, figuring out what I want to do with my life, is another story. 

The view from our backyard in
Jabeek, the NL.

Something to know about me is that I come from a musical family. I have always sung, and I started playing piano over 10 years ago. So whenever anyone asked me where I wanted to go to school after I graduated high school and what I wanted to do, my automatic response was, "I want to do something with music, but past that, I have no idea." When my sophomore year came my wonderful choir teacher left to teach in England to be closer to his grandkids. Within the first two weeks of the new school year, it became apparent that our new teacher may play a few instruments, but he was not qualified to be a teacher. After a couple of weeks of singing along to John Mayer on a CD, I decided to teach the class. I'd done so whenever my previous teacher was sick, and out of the dwindling choir class of 14, I was the only student qualified and willing to step up, take responsibility, and teach. After a year of musical discouragement, blatant bullying on the part of the teacher to both me and my classmates, what I have since deemed the Year of Hell was over. But even after all of the harsh words, discouragement, and performances that I don't want to relive, I decided that I liked teaching. I was good at teaching. I wanted to continue teaching. So here I am, three years later, one year into my Music Education degree at Boise State University, and loving my studies. In three years I will graduate from Boise State University, and the Boise State Honors College with a Music Education degree. 

I am very grateful for what my experiences in Europe have taught me, and I am looking forward to the next three years of my education at Boise State University doing what I love: Music.