Madison Watkins is a senior at the School of General Studies and a Human Rights major with a concentration on Education. Madison has been a student at Columbia since 2021 and transferred in from Harford County Community College in Maryland. Since being on campus she has learned invaluable skills in human rights applications and research. While being at Columbia, Madison has maintained full-time employment throughout each semester as an employee at Avenues NYC, a sober living facility in Chelsea, and a student worker at the Center for Career Education on campus. She has also been able to give back to the community by being the Vice President of the Recovery Coalition, a club that provides students with safe spaces to gain community while going through the stressors of life on campus and more. Madison is beyond grateful to not only be a student at Columbia but to have been given this award. Her internship at the Department of Child Protection and Permanency has given her first-hand experience of understanding the purpose of protecting children’s basic human rights as well as applying the knowledge she has learned at Columbia. Madison is proud to be a 2023 recipient of the Miller Award.
