Submitted by Mike Gillespie, Business Representative for UPS Muncie, IN
Madalyn Friend, daughter of Matt Friend, UPS Muncie Package Driver is honored to win a scholarship from the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund
21-year UPS Muncie member Matt Friend’s daughter Madalyn Friend has been awarded a $10,000.00 scholarship form the from the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund. As you can see from her short bio and by the love and support of her father Matt, her mother Bry, and two brother’s and sister, it is easy to see that all her hard work and discipline helper her receive this scholarship. Teamsters Local No. 135 and the whole staff want to congratulate Madalyn and her family of this great achievement. Her essay says it all about how Teamsters helper Matt be able to provide every opportunity for this wonderful family to succeed.
Madalyn:
I graduated from Monroe Central Jr Sr High School and will be attending Iowa State to study Animal Genetics. I had many 4-H projects while in high school including swine, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, and boars, goats. While in 4-H I won the 2020 Round Robin Showmanship contest where I had to show 7 species of animals against 7 of the best showmen in our county. Outside of 4-H I also competed in livestock shows throughout the state of Indiana and across the nation in places like Perry, Georgia and Springfield, Illinois. Another huge part of my high school career was my involvement in FFA where I competed in many events such as Floriculture, Livestock Skillathon, Forestry, and Public Demonstration contests. I am still an active member of FFA and will be competing at the National Convention with my Floriculture team this fall! I was also highly involved in my school’s student council serving as Vice President and the President of our Anchor Club Organization.
James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund Essay:
My dad is the Teamster member living in my household. I know that because he is a Teamster member my life has been a little different than most people’s. My dad has shown my siblings and I how loyalty and working together in unison can impact your life in such a positive way. As well as the impacts that good insurance and higher wages has allowed us to grow and be curious about more opportunities in life. Loyalty was drilled into my head as a young child. My dad’s loyalty was important because of what the Teamster union had done for him. He knew that with children to care for, he had to teach us that with loyalty comes great incentives. His loyalty comes with extremely good insurance that keeps us from being ill and staying healthy, along with benefits for after retirement that allow my dad to retire and not have to worry about working or not being able to have enough money for his grandchildren in the future. My siblings and I learned that with loyalty to a union or loyalty in general, great positive things come from it. Not only were we taught loyalty, but we were also shown how working together can create better quality work. One of the earlier memories I have is working in my pig barn in the backyard with my family. We go out to the barn every day and we feed, clean, train, and bathe pigs together as a family. We all have our specific jobs that we do so that we all feel important and useful. We work together so that the barn chores get done faster, but also better than if just one of us did them alone. Unity while working allows better work in a company or business in our future. Teamsters has fought for my father’s insurance and wage rights while he has worked for UPS. This has given my family the ability to go to the doctor more frequently than most people. Since Teamsters fought for good insurance, we are not scared or worried about the price of doctor’s checkups or even shots and necessary medical items for schools and sports. This has given us freedom in our medical necessities. As well as good insurance Teamsters has fought for good wages for UPS employees. This has allowed my family to have afford extracurriculars with no restrictions. We can afford sports equipment and livestock equipment without fear of being able to afford it. I have been able to make connections for my future because of being financially stable. Having a Teamster member living in my household has meant that I have new and more opportunities than someone not in the organization and have been taught unity and loyalty helps to accomplish greatness. I can strive for the future I want, and my dad can assist in my future because the Teamster Union of Brotherhood has fought for his right to better insurance and higher wages. Upon graduation, I plan to attend Iowa State University and major in Animal Science with a focus in either genetics or reproduction. Along with my major in Animal Science I plan to pursue a minor in either Leadership Studies or Agriculture Business Management. I plan to take an internship during my sophomore year at Trans Ova Genetics where I would be working with embryo transfers, artificial breeding, and same sexed embryo’s. This internship would further both my education and my career opportunities. After graduating Iowa State University, I plan is to attend a graduate school at either Kansas State University or Oklahoma State University to obtain a Master’s degree in Swine Genetics. While in graduate school and after graduating a future career goal includes working at Swine Genetics International and/or Trans Ova Genetics to not only teach me new skills and knowledge but also use my schooling to further those companies in bettering the future of the commercial swine industry and the show swine industry. The knowledge I will acquire in school will help me to achieve better farrowing rates at swine operations, find the exact DNA strands to create the perfect commercial pig as well as the perfect show pig for families and industry leaders across the nation! My goals are high and wide because I know the capabilities and support system, I have will help guide me along the way.
Madalyn Friend, daughter of
Matthew Friend, Teamsters Local No. 135
member of UPS Muncie, IN
