CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas ­— When Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi psychology major and reigning Miss Texas United States Madison Hickman ’26 first struggled with spelling as a third grader, her mother suspected dyslexia and began fighting for the support her daughter needed.

“My mom told my teachers that she thought I might be dyslexic,” Hickman said. “Their response was basically, ‘If we haven’t caught it by now, the damage is already done.”’

接下来的几年里，希克曼的决心、夜以继日的努力和倡导，将她塑造成了今天的学生、作家和选美冠军。

Now a psychology major at TAMU-CC, Hickman has turned those early challenges into a platform for change — using her voice in both the classroom and on the pageant stage to champion awareness for students like her. 

希克曼在圣安东尼奥由一位单身母亲抚养长大，她度过了无数个夜晚，坐在厨房的餐桌旁，通过母亲创作的歌曲背诵拼写单词。 即使她能正确地唱出歌词，把它们写下来也几乎是不可能的。 她的母亲成为她最坚定的支持者，努力争取更好的支持。 最终，希克曼转到了一所更加宽松的小学，并在祖父母的帮助下，开始与一位专门研究阅读障碍的私人教师合作。 她于2022年高中毕业。

At first, TAMU-CC wasn’t part of Hickman’s permanent plan. 她是通过系统录取计划（PSA）来到岛大学的，这个计划意味着她只计划在TAMU-CC待一年，然后转到大学城的德克萨斯农工大学。

“I ended up loving it here,” Hickman said. “I found my people, met my boyfriend, and decided to stay.”

It was in an English 1301 class that Hickman’s advocacy began to take shape where a simple assignment soon transformed into a passion project. 在英语老师克里斯汀·鲁格斯·桑德斯的鼓励下，希克曼制定了一套10个课程计划，旨在帮助家长和老师支持有阅读障碍的学生。

“I am so proud of the work she did on the project,” Sanders said. “Madison not only shows passion for her work, but an excitement about the topic, and I can easily see her doing world-changing work both currently and in her future.”

That class project eventually became a published children’s book, now available nationwide through Barnes & Noble.

“My plan is to share the book with parents and educators across Texas, especially for families like mine who struggled to find help for dyslexia,” Hickman said. “No one wants to see their child struggle, so I wanted to create an affordable tool that could make a difference.”

Balancing pageantry with academics hasn’t been easy, but Hickman credits her communication minor with giving her the skills to advocate effectively.

“My time at the university taught me how to talk to people and present information effectively, which helped me raise the $4,000 I needed to enter the pageant. I got plenty of no’s, but enough yes’s to make it happen,” Hickman said.

希克曼现在是美国德州小姐，她在生活和选美舞台上都有一个明确的使命：提高人们对阅读障碍的认识。

“For me, it’s about being the role model I needed when I was younger,” Hickman said.

今年11月，希克曼将带着在TAMU-CC学到的经验，在拉斯维加斯举行的美国小姐比赛中登上全国舞台。

“At TAMU-CC, I’ve learned you don’t have to be anywhere else to do big things,” Hickman said. “Islanders have everything we need right here to achieve at the highest level.”