(This story is a class assignment and does not represent actual events. The subject is not dead, as of the time of posting.)

By Kylie Burks

SPRINGFIELD MO—A killer headline doesn’t always refer to the quality of the writing; sometimes they really do kill.

This was the case for Madison Mabry who died yesterday due to a heart attack. Authorities speculate her death was induced by the most recent edition of Evangel University’s newspaper “The Lance” that was in her hand, in which every name printed was spelled backwards and upside down.

“She knows how to work hard and prioritize the things that really matter to her,” Mabry’s college roommate Christa Takitani said. “She puts her heart and soul into everything that she’s a part of.”

Mabry was the managing editor of “The Lance” as well as the media communications coordinator and manager, writing and releasing a biweekly newsletter to the Evangel community. Though her commitment was commendable, Mabry may have taken the phrase “put your whole heart into everything you do” a little too literally.

“She gets a lot of pressure on wanting to do good and not let people down, so she is probably motivated by not wanting to disappoint or show fault in things because she puts so much pressure on herself to do well,” Mabry’s mother Jessica Mabry said.

Though the pressure of her journalistic work led to her untimely death, Mabry loved what she did. She used her position in the university to connect and communicate with others.

“Our role is to share the stories of people at Evangel and keep them informed about what’s happening,” she said prior to her death. “Getting to play a role in that is super great for me and gives me an importance and shows me the purpose of why I’m here right now.”

Discovering purpose, specifically God’s purpose, for her life is something that Mabry prioritized. She was often able to look back on her own life and see the times when God took difficult situations and turned them into something good. She then used that testimony to help direct other people.

“I’ve had many moments where I [had] doubts about what I’m doing, and I had times where I’m just not all put together and she just listened. At times she’d remind me, she’d go, ‘hey, it’s okay. You’ve got it, and God’s got it.’ That helped me refocus,” Tatikani said.

Jessica Mabry also saw this in how her daughter lived her life and in the attentiveness she had for the people around her.

“She was a positive influencer. She was one of the best listeners and she always had a way of seeing the good even when there’s bad and helping make a new perspective for people to see when sometimes they weren’t able to see that,” she said.

Though Mabry is no longer with us, her legacy lives on as she continues to impact her loved ones, reminding them of their God-given purpose and to pour passion into everything they do.