BOZEMAN — Kalani Madrona says that when he walks across the stage Friday in Montana State University’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse during fall commencement, he’ll become the first person in his family to earn a college degree. He’ll have marked this accomplishment while working full-time, taking more than a full-time class load, and filling the role of parent to both his younger brother and younger cousin. He’ll have successfully earned his degree while contending with ADHD and dyslexia, which both were undiagnosed until his sophomore year of college. And he’ll have done it while earning the respect of MSU’s professors, advisers and administrators, as well as the fifth grade students and fifth grade teacher with whom he worked as a student teacher.

Joe Hicks, assistant dean in the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development, said Madrona has served as a “true inspiration” to both faculty and peers while he has been at the university.

“His investment in relationships has been particularly noteworthy,” Hicks said. “He has demonstrated exceptional determination throughout our program, serving as a tremendous ambassador in the process. His ability to connect in an authentic way really results in memorable relationships both on campus and off. Kalani has a bright teaching career ahead of him.”

John Melick, director of field placement and licensure in the Department of Education, agreed. He noted that Madrona always looked for what he could learn from a situation.

“He stood out to our faculty and staff, and he made a huge impact in his student teaching placement this fall,” Melick said. “Kalani asks for help, listens to advice, talks through problems and seeks to leave any situation he encounters stronger than he entered it.”

Madrona, who grew up in California City, California, said he chose to attend MSU out of a desire to go somewhere new. He received a promotional mailing from the university and figured he would take his chances and apply.

“Without seeing the school, I applied,” he said. “I wanted to restart my life.”

He started out studying computer science and then switched to kinesiology. But then something happened that made him decide to go into education: A young nephew had a serious illness and six-month hospital stay, and doctors predicted that he would never be able to learn to walk, talk or have any memory, Madrona said.

“I told my family I would be his teacher,” Madrona said. And, he said, studying education was a good choice, as he quickly found teaching to be both his passion and something that makes him happy.

But, he said, it has not been easy. He combined being a full-time student with working full-time in restaurants, as a tutor and for his own photography business. He became the legal guardian of both his brother, Kyle, and his cousin, Randy, (whom he calls a brother, as well.) He struggled to find and pay for housing for the three of them. He also felt a large responsibility to show them the value of hard work.

(Madrona said his cousin graduated from Gallatin High School in May and is now enrolled in Gallatin College MSU. His brother, who is currently a senior in high school, plans to enroll in Gallatin College MSU, as well.)

In addition, when he first enrolled at MSU, Madrona said, he knew nothing about things like good study habits, financial resources and more. But he began to take advantage of resources available at the university, he said, and those have been invaluable.

He said the most valuable resource is people.

“No matter who I went and talked to (in the Department of Education), they made me feel like part of the family,” Madrona said. “Whenever I had a problem, they were always there to help.”

Specifically, he said, his professors and staff members in the advising office helped him identify and access resources.

“Without (my teachers and my advising office), I don’t think I’d be here today,” he said. “There were several times I thought about giving up, but I couldn’t. I needed to make my little brothers proud.”

It also helped to be diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, he said.

“Before (the diagnosis), I thought it was just me,” Madrona said. “I thought I couldn’t read. I thought I couldn’t write.  … Being diagnosed reassured me that it was not my fault. It’s the way I think. That really helped me emotionally, especially in school.”

As a student in the Department of Education, Madrona took advantage of opportunities such as the Rural Experience for Teachers, a program designed to give teachers new tools for teaching science, technology, engineering and math, and completing a practicum at the Cottonwood Day School, a school for students with special needs.

This fall, Madrona completed his student teaching in Tracy Babcock’s fifth grade classroom at Morning Star Elementary School in Bozeman.

Madrona said the most valuable lesson he learned from the experience – out of several valuable lessons – is how much a connection between a teacher and a student can impact a student’s life.

“No matter how many disciplinary actions you try to take or how many times you try to get a student engaged, they will not engage if they’re not connected to you or if they don’t feel you support them,” he said. “Same with disciplinary things. Outbreaks will be minimal if you connect with students and show them you care.”

In addition, Madrona said he learned as a student teacher to take pride in his dyslexia and ADHD.

“Lots of students face the same problems,” he said. “Telling them I have ADHD and dyslexia, and that I’m going to mess up words when I’m reading and it’s OK, helps to create a safe learning environment for everybody.”

Babcock, who has been teaching at Morning Star since 2011, said she loved how open Madrona was with the fifth graders about his struggles.

“He makes it OK not to know how to do something,” Babcock said. “He demonstrated how you can be brave when you’re not great at something and you still go out and try to do it.”

The students responded well to Madrona’s honesty, she added.

“He really connected with our students, better than any student teacher I’ve had,” she said. 

Now, with his student teaching experience wrapped up, Madrona is looking forward to commencement on Friday.

He’s not entirely sure what’s next, but he hopes to stay in Bozeman for now and work as a long-term substitute teacher in the school district. Eventually, he’d like to go to graduate school to further his education. Whatever he does, he said, one thing is clear:

“My heart is in the classroom. It feels like I was put on this earth to teach.”