PORT NECHES — Madison Hamby sees a story to tell with every person she meets.

Hamby, editor of the Port Neches-Groves High School’s newspaper the Pow Wow, has always been interested in journalism and the different things she can learn about people just by asking.

“You can stumble upon an amazing story,” Hamby, a junior, said.

Her love of writing sent her to the state level of University Interscholastic League news writing competition in her sophomore year. She didn’t make it to the top of the group of contestants but then again, she wasn’t expecting to.

“My favorite is creative writing,” she said. “Making stories is my favorite form, it’s all from your head. My dad always said I could talk to a brick wall and it’d talk back.”

Hamby’s friendly, inquisitive nature helps. She finds something to start with when speaking with others.

“I find out things, maybe ask about the person’s hair or the color of their fingernails to the name of the band on their T-shirt. Then I want to know more,” she said. “I have the innate need to know things about people.”

Hamby would love to become an author one day and already has a start on this goal. She and her sister, Morgan Hamby, wrote a book together for their mother’s birthday.

“I’ve even looked into a career as a foreign correspondent but I’d be happy to be an English teacher and create that spark that causes students to take interest,” she said.

Hamby leads a busy life. She’s enrolled in all advancement placement classes, takes part in UIL, is on student council, is a member of the Spanish Club, and a member of DECA where she competed last year in business law and ethics. Pat Briggs, assistant principal, can attest to Hamby’s energy and zest for life.

“Madison’s contagious enthusiasm and positive attitude is often the catalyst for completing projects,” Briggs said. “She just has that personality that makes you want to work with her.”

Hamby is the daughter of Gary and Nancy Hamby. Her sister Morgan Hamby is a freshman at Lamar University where she is majoring in biology with the goal of becoming a radiology technician.

It was her grandfather, Dr. Hamby, who introduced her to the world.

“He was very adamant when we were younger to have culture,” she said. “We traveled to Rome, Athens, Turkey, Alaska, Colorado, Virginia. We saw the Parthenon. We followed (Biblical) Paul’s third journey through Rome. I have to see more of the world. Travel is huge for me.”

The Hamby’s are a close-knit family who worship at Memorial Church of Christ on Aero Drive in Port Arthur.

“It is extremely important to me to have a moral base in my life,” Hamby, who works closely with the church’s youth group, said. “It’s not only a personal decision but a connection to the rest of my family.”

While Hamby enjoys meeting others and traveling, she also enjoys time with family. Her mom, with whom she is very close, loves movies, and they have viewed many films together. This likely sparked the Hamby’s Christmas Day tradition of the family loading up and viewing a triple feature.

“’I’m a homebody as much as I like to get out and do things I love going home and talking with my mom,” she said.

The Christmas Day movie marathon brings the busy family together. Dad Gary is a business owner, mom Nancy is involved in education and sister Morgan is a college student.

Hamby isn’t one to just coast on by when it comes to achieving goals.

“Mediocrity is my most hated word,” she said. “I want to be described as a go getter. I hunger for new experiences and to meet new people.”

Positive attitude creates positive results and one cannot go about doing things with a negative disposition, she said.

“I want to get somewhere in life and don’t want to settle for mediocre. Shoot for the moon because even if you miss you’ll land among the stars,” she said.

E-mail: mary.meaux@panews.com

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