You may know Maddy Bangs as Queen Anne in Ashland High School’s production of The Three Musketeers. More recently, you might know her from her performance in the choir concert. But her new adventure is only just about to begin. Bangs, graduating from AHS on Friday, May 30th with the class of 2014, is spending one more summer in Ashland before embarking on a completely new chapter of her life.

    After this summer, Bangs is leaving first for France, to work in a bed and breakfast. She plans to stay in France for a few months, then travel to Rome, where she will work as an au pair – a live-in nanny. After that, who knows? There is a whole wide world for Bangs to explore, and she intends to.

    In middle school, Bangs first decided she wanted to travel. “I just felt very suffocated in my environment so I started researching and became interested in other cultures,” she admits. “Plus, I get enormously excited in airports.”

    Right now, Bangs is preparing for her journey by cleaning out and getting rid of old clothes and things she no longer needs. She’s also making lists of things to do, places to go, and people to see. It takes a lot of preparation, physically, mentally and emotionally for a person to leave the country on their own for months at a time.

    “I hope that the trip will affect my creativity in a positive way by giving me more to write about in the future and just helping me find out what I really want to do with my life,” Bangs reflects. Travel is an important part of the human experience, and Maddy Bangs continues to be an example of humanity’s adventurous spirit.