L

Imagine you’re the Senior Class/Student Council President at Tullahoma High School, earned the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Tullahoma, newly elected member of the Homecoming Court, earned the Tennessee School Board Association South Central Student of the Year Award, take two Advanced Placement Dual Enrollment classes at Motlow State College, active in National Honor Society, DECA, Math Team, Student Advisory Council, a sorority, Vice President of the Debate Team, varsity member of the softball team and varsity member and captain of the volleyball team.

Oh, and in addition to that, you carry a 4.6 (out of 4.0 scale) GPA in four years of rigorous academics at Tullahoma High School.

Whew, for most individuals after accomplishing all that now would be a good time to slow down and maybe coast a little.

Not if you’re THS Senior Maggie Lynch. Your day is just getting started so to speak.

A month ago Lynch accepted a part time internship position with the Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce as part of the Work Based Learning program at THS. She works eight hours a week at the Chamber through the school year. Lynch is the third Work Based Learning student to work at the Chamber.

Just like the rest of her day juggling school activities, this very poised, articulate and confident 17 year old stays busy at the Chamber helping set up events, developing her soft office skills, and greeting and answering the questions of the many Chamber visitors.

“This has really been a great experience. I’ve seen a lot of the community and learned how a lot of things work behind the scenes. Just learning how it all comes together for Santa Claus to visit the four elementary schools to promote the Christmas Parade theme was a great experience,” said Lynch.

According to Hope Nunley, Executive Director of the Chamber, “Maggie has been a great addition to our team and we have enjoyed having her. She has met all our great Ambassadors and our Chamber Board members. She has already made a lot of great connections I hope will benefit her in the future.”

According to THS Work Based Learning instructor Angela Welch, “I was excited to place Maggie with the Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce this year. She is a great example of a student who is willing to develop her skills. Maggie is an outstanding student and individual. While securing a work-based learning student for an unpaid internship can often be a challenge, Maggie recognized the valuable opportunity with the Chamber and actively sought it out.”

Lynch has applied to UT Knoxville, Vanderbilt, Auburn and Alabama Universities to study aerospace engineering after high school graduation. After college graduation, she plans on returning to Tullahoma and attending the UT Space Institute and earning an advanced degree.

When asked why aerospace engineering, Lynch said, “both of my grandfathers were engineers in different fields and growing up in Tullahoma we had Arnold Engineering Development Complex so I immediately became fascinated with engineering. I also went on to take a couple of classes in High School that helped me decide on aerospace engineering.”

Oh, and Maggie in your spare time, NASA is looking for more female astronauts.