Madeline Gray

I'm a freshman from Crystal Lake, Illinois, who is majoring in Marketing and Professional Sales with a minor in Sports Media. I'm a huge LA Chargers, Detroit Pistons, and Liverpool FC fan.



Projects by Madeline Gray

Journalism Story

Humraah reaches new heights through friendship and hard work

By Madeline Gray, Dayana Alonso and Zheyu Yang

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (April 3, 2025)

When Kavya Kaushik first joined Humraah last year, she had no idea what it would eventually mean to her. In fact, she only joined in the first place because Humraah’s schedule aligned nicely with her business fraternity. 

“I was like, ‘You know what? Let me just try Humraah,’” Kavya explained. “I had no idea that that would truly impact my college experience and my life.”

Little did Kavya know that not only would Humraah make a sizable mark on her life, but also on the South Asian A Capella circuit nationally, as the past two years have been nothing short of extraordinary for her and Humraah.

Sophomore and Alto Kavya Kaushik sings with Humraah during practice on March 31, 2025. Kavya joined Humraah last year as a freshman and loves how the group feels like a family.

Humraah, a South Asian a capella group at IU, has risen rapidly through the ranks of the South Asian acapella circuit over the past two years, topping the national rankings and preparing to continue their momentum into the end of this year and the years to come. While this ascent seems sudden, the members of Humraah know exactly how it happened – a dedication to hard work and each other.

Humraah started competing last year, and it was clear that they were starting out when compared to other, more established teams. The team was understandably less experienced in mixing songs than teams that had been doing this for years, and their nerves were evident. By the end of the competition season, Humraah was ranked 22nd nationally. 

However, Co-President Dhar Sriram noticed a change in the team and their level of performances this year at Spartan Sitara, an event at Michigan State University featuring teams from across the country, including from Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and The Ohio State University. This event was the first of Humraah’s competition season both years, and the difference in outcome for Humraah was exciting and a sign of greater things to come. While they didn’t place last year, this year, Humraah won it all against stiff competition.

“We really wanted to prove ourselves at a competition that we had already been to,” Dhar explained, “so to go there and see some of the same people and be in the same environment and do exponentially better meant so much to the team.”

Beyond Spartan Sitara, Humraah has also placed first in Gathe Raho at the University of Iowa and at IU Sing, an a capella competition here in Bloomington. They’ve risen through the ranks nationally to become the top ranked team in the South Asian A Capella circuit, and they show no signs of slowing down now. They spend hours each week in Briscoe meticulously practicing and perfecting their craft (although not without breaks to chat and raid the Briscoe C-Store), but what has truly motivated their rise to the top has been the depth of friendship that Humraah has achieved.

Walking into a Humraah practice feels like walking into a meeting between a large group of old friends because of how excited everyone is to see each other. Kavya admitted that the group has separation anxiety and love to be together, which Dhar expanded upon with a story from the day of the interview.

“I’m standing in the lobby of Hodge, and I see two Humraah people, then I see a couple more, and a couple more…” Dhar began. “It’s a group of 9 of us in the middle of the lobby, talking and chatting… we took a picture of us together and sent it to the group chat. Another member said, ‘You’re taking this photo like you don’t see each other everyday,’ which is true!”

Humraah Co-President Dhar Sriram demonstrates a part of Humraah’s choreography during practice on March 31, 2025. Dhar is excited to see the culmination of the group’s hard work at Nationals and beyond.

With all of the group’s success, it would be easy to sit back and allow for a moment of rest. However, Humraah has been busier than ever this past week while preparing for Nationals in San Francisco, which will take place this Saturday. The top eight teams nationally are invited, and the group is excited to prove themselves to the nation and to compete with teams that they’ve excitedly watched for years from afar. 

For Kavya, this moment represents everything that Humraah has worked for and reminds her of why they have put so much work in over the past two years, work that she could’ve never imagined paying off in the manner it has when she joined last year.

“Seeing everything from this year made all the troubles of starting a competition season and being the underdogs last year worth it” Kavya admits. “I’m really proud of everyone, lucky to have everyone, and grateful that we all found each other at the perfect time in life.”

Members of Humraah talk about their experience with the team and their recent success. They credit their newfound rise to the top of the South Asian A Capella circuit to their strong friendships.

 

Public Relations Story

Apple CEO Tim Cook Announced the Apple Watch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

Media Contacts
Madeline Gray
Graham DeWitte
Kaixin Chen

CUPERTINO, California (Sept. 9, 2014) — Apple CEO Tim Cook has unveiled Apple’s most personal device yet in the Apple Watch, with features designed to create a customizable, stylish, and powerful experience that hasn’t been possible before in any product on the market today.

“We have been working incredibly hard for a long time on an entirely new product,” Cook said. “We believe that this product will redefine what people expect from its category.”

The video displayed after Cook’s introduction showed off a sleek, modern design for the Apple Watch with easily customizable elements that will make for a unique, stylish experience for any user. Cook, wearing the watch himself, emphasized the importance of the functional user interface that will allow for an enjoyable and easy user experience. A standout feature regarding this is the digital crown, or the dial that doubles as a button on the side of the watch to allow for scrolling, zooming, returning to the homescreen, and other uses that are infinitely easier than if users were forced to tap and pinch to control the screen.

Jony Ive, the Senior Vice President of Design for Apple, then presented the features included in the Apple Watch to make it both fashionable and functional for all users, as well as Apple’s motivations for doing so.

“It’s driven Apple from the beginning, this compulsion to take incredibly powerful technology and make it accessible, relevant and ultimately personal,” Ive said.

Ive spoke on the impressive accuracy of the Apple Watch’s timekeeping abilities, staying with 50 milliseconds of true time at all times, as well as the range of watch faces that allow for a chic and personal time-telling experience. Beyond watch faces, the Apple Watch is uniquely modifiable through its 6 strap types that can be effortlessly swapped out at any time. With this range of straps, including the sport band, leather loop, leather modern buckle, simple leather classic buckle, stainless steel link bracelet, and milanese loop, all users can find a style that fits their personality and needs.

College TA does her work while wearing Apple Watch
Qin Li, a Teaching Assistant at Indiana University, does her work while wearing her Apple Watch. The Apple Watch has a multitude of customizable aspects such as the watch faces and straps, allowing users to show their style and flair through the product.

Beyond the straps and watch faces, the Apple Watch itself has a range of styles that can fit each user’s personal goals and priorities. The Apple Watch has three distinct collections, the first of which is the Apple Watch, made from a custom alloy of stainless steel. The Apple Sport collection is made to be 60% stronger than a normal alloy without being bulky or heavy. The Apple Watch Edition is made from 18-carat gold designed to be twice as strong as normal. The ability to mix-and-match as you please between the range of options available with the Apple Watch will allow all users to prioritize what they want and easily adapt their Watch to fit that.

After displaying the design of the Apple Watch, Vice President Kevin Lynch came up to demonstrate the innovative capabilities of the Watch. The Apple Watch’s watch faces can be customized on the watch itself to allow for important information to be displayed, as well as Glances allowing for users to swipe to get more relevant information throughout their day. The Apple Watch also is linked with the iPhone so as to notify the user through a tap on the wrist whenever a notification comes through, allowing for a private yet unmistakable reminder that users can then check by lifting their wrist watch to see. A feature that Lynch was particularly proud of was the Digital Touch feature, which allows users to send taps, drawings, or even their actual heartbeat to another user through the use of the combined Apple Watches. Finally, Lynch explained how Apple has given third-party developers the ability to expand the Apple Watch’s capabilities through WatchKit, which will allow companies to develop apps for the Watch beyond what is already available.

Cook then came back to present the health and fitness capabilities present within the Apple Watch, which comes with both a Fitness app to monitor all activity throughout the day and a Workout app to monitor specific workouts. The Watch has a plethora of features designed to track health, including an accelerometer for total body movement, sensors on the bottom of the Watch to track one’s heart rate, and a GPS to determine distance traveled. The Fitness app specifically tracks calories burned, amount of exercise, and the amount of times one has stood per hour throughout the day to measure health, and the Workout app can allow users to go for time, calories, or distance.

A young woman exercises while her Apple Watch tracks her fitness levels for the day.
Dian Zhong, a student at Indiana University, exercises in the gym while her Apple Watch tracks her fitness levels. The Apple Watch has a plethora of features designed to track and improve the user’s overall health, including a Fitness app to track overall activity for a day and a Workout app to track specific, focused exercise sessions.

“We think it’s gonna help a lot of people live a better day and a healthier life,” Cook said.

The Apple Watch is set to be released in early 2015 and will be priced starting at $349. It will be compatible with the iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6, and 6 Plus and is charged through inductive charging using a magnet that will also be sold through Apple.

Tim Cook speaks on the Apple Watch’s purpose as a personal, accurate timekeeping device. The Apple Watch’s main purpose is to keep time, but additional applications allow it to also serve as a fitness tracker and communication device, among other things.

Tim Cook explains the purpose of the digital crown on the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch was designed to allow for users to interact with the watch without blocking their view of the screen.

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