North senior Maggie Palsgrove has high ambitions

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To say that Maggie Palsgrove likes to keep busy would be an understatement.

The 17-year-old Pickerington North High School student has recently started serving on the Ohio Attorney General’s Teen Advisory Board. Palsgrove’s involvement has just begun, but already, she’s enjoying working alongside other teens on state issues.

“They’re going to present us with opportunities to speak in the Statehouse, and we’re going to go over more things the attorney general creates and figure out what we can do to improve them,” Palsgrove says about her new role.

Palsgrove’s passion for politics stems from strong beliefs about mental health reform in Ohio. Her interest began in earnest her sophomore year when she attended the Ohio Union State Government Assembly, a meeting in which students gather in the Ohio Statehouse to enact model legislation. Palsgrove was immediately drawn to the legislative branch.

“While I was there, it kind of just flipped a switch in my head,” she says, “I was like, ‘Wow, this is so important. I have so many opinions that I didn’t even know about, and I just want to tell all of them to the world.’”

The hard work will be worth it. Palsgrove has high ambitions. She plans to major in political science, attend law school and, eventually, become a senator. She’s already on her way to earning her bachelor’s degree; when she enters college next year, she will already have two years knocked off.

Last year, Palsgrove finished up her high school credit while also taking online college courses through College Credit Plus, a program that allows students to earn high school and college credit at the same time through universities. That allowed her to complete her college general education requirements in addition to her high school credit.

“I knew that I had a long road at college ahead of me,” she says. “I also like to have a full schedule. I like to push myself, so having the college classes was just a little extra push for me in some cases.”

This year, she’s a full-time college student, enrolled online at Miami University and the University of Cincinnati. As for her senior year? Palsgrove is taking only one class: choir. She also sings and dances in the school’s chorale and has appeared in school plays.

Palsgrove is still associated with many of the school’s extracurricular activities. She leads the Youth & Government Club as well as the Gender Identity and Sexuality Alliance. She is also involved the Drug Free Club, National Honor Society and the Junior State Association. In addition, she recently earned an internship with state Rep. Kristin Boggs of Ohio House District 18, which encompasses parts of Bexley, Grandview Heights, downtown Columbus, German Village and the Short North. And on top of all of her schoolwork and activities, Palsgrove works two jobs at Cold Stone Creamery and Gigi’s Cupcakes.

And what does her family think of her schedule?

“They’ve expressed concerns,” she says with a laugh, “It’s primarily things like, ‘We don’t get to see you enough!’”

Palsgrove splits her time living at her mother’s and father’s home. She has two half-sisters, Katherine and Clara.

As for the future, Palsgrove is excited about her college education. Her online courses have made picking a school very tough; she has grown very fond of both Miami and Cincinnati over the years, but also feels a strong draw to The Ohio State University. Beginning her political science courses has been the most exciting part of all of this for her.

“I’m just starting my political science classes, and I love them,” she says. “Being in that group of people with similar interests as me is really fun.”

Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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