Weighing in at 9lbs 13 oz, Sydney Elizabeth McMakin was already “larger than life” the minute she entered the world on April 21, 1995. The first born child, she was instantly the apple of her parents’ eye. She cruised through life as an only child for the first 2 ½ years of her life and then earned one of her most prized titles, as “big sister”, when she welcomed little brother Will in 1997.
Sydney and Will grew up as typical brother and sister , best friends one minute and fighting “like brother and sister” the next. One of their favorite mantras after bickering was when Sydney or Will would say “let’s just be nice now” and then all would be forgotten and play would resume.
Sydney’s love of learning (and teaching) started early and Will spent many hours as “pupil” to her “teacher”. The scenario continued into real life as over the years, Sydney stayed after Will to make sure that he was keeping up with his school work. She was like another parent, always urging him to do better because she knew his potential.
Sydney’s nurturing attitude carried over to her peers as well. She went out of her way to help classmates get organized, meet deadlines, and strive for the grades that they needed to move forward. An outstanding student herself, Sydney was set to begin college classes as a high school junior in January of this year. She was also proud to be co-editor of the school yearbook and dedicated many hours to perfecting the publication.
Though serious about and dedicated to her academic pursuits, Sydney was still a typical teenager. Her laugh and beautiful smile were infectious. She loved country music and could sing along with any song that came along. One of Sydney’s favorite pastimes was football, whether it was her Byrnes Rebels , Carolina Gamecocks or even more recently the Carolina Panthers. She knew the game better than most and even tried to teach it to those less inclined. She could quote all kinds of stats and she actually made a point to watch the BCS standings each week to see how things were playing out.
Sydney accepted Jesus as her saviour as a child and we know that she is rejoicing in heaven right now. She enjoyed sharing her faith with children and looked forward every year to working with the children at vacation bible school. She loved working with the church kids in the evenings,and one of her favorite activities was spending a week working with community kids during the day at the Parks and Rec VBS each summer.
Sydney had the most tender of hearts. She refused to watch a movie that she knew would end badly and often turned the TV off during heart wrenching commercials. She had a heart for the less fortunate, and would brave Black Friday sales to make her money stretch further as she shopped for other, less fortunate kids each Christmas.
Sydney was an animal lover and was, quite frankly, obsessed with her two Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Daisy and DJ. Anyone that knew her can attest to this.Family activities were often planned around the “kids”, as she called them. She was a proponent of the “laissez faire” form of pet management, also known as “let them do what they want!”.
In recent months Sydney made the decision to attend college at USC Upstate and major in biology. This way she could stay at home with her family and dogs while pursuing her college education. She knew that she wanted to pursue something in the medical field, but wasn’t sure what yet. She was intrigued by medicine and all of its possibilities. Most people would have been terrified to wake up during a surgical procedure, but Sydney thought it was the neatest thing that she got to see them working on her heart on the monitor. She excitedly recounted this to her family while still in recovery.
Sydney’s decision to undergo the procedure to correct her heart condition was an example of the brave, strong and determined person that she was. She was the best daughter and sister that we could ask for and we miss her smile, laugh and presence every day, but hope that with the Sydney Elizabeth McMakin Scholarship we can preserve her legacy and help others as they pursue their dreams to make a difference.