Dylan Lee Riedel, son of Stacey and Kelley, is a senior at Madison High School. He and his two younger brothers, Tyson and Landyn, all have four-year age gaps. He has lived in Madison his entire life, which has helped him to develop a strong tolerance for cold weather. In fact, if Dylan could live anywhere in the world for a year, he would like to live in Alaska.
Dylan enjoys traveling, and besides visiting Alaska, he would like to return to the Black Hills for the “best burger ever at Black Hills Burger and Bun Co.” Despite this, Dylan’s favorite food combination is grilled cheese and tomato soup because of it’s homey, comfort-food feeling. Programming and understanding computers comes easily to Dylan, so he enjoys spending his free time gaming and watching YouTube. If he had his own YouTube channel, Dylan would make gaming content or videos of himself building structures in the woods. Given the chance to become any movie or book character, he would become Flat Stanley because of all the mischievous opportunities he would have. However, if he could gain a superpower, he would like the ability to fly so he could help people; for example, “Somebody let go of their balloon? I got it!”
During his time at MHS, Dylan has been involved in quiz bowl, marching and concert band, choir, winter drumline, NHS, and youth group, and is a Senior Ambassador. Upon graduating, Dylan plans to attend Dakota State University for computer programming in hopes of a possible career in software engineering. In ten years, Dylan sees himself sitting on the porch of his cabin in the woods with (at least) one dog. His advice to underclassmen is, “Don’t be afraid to be yourself. It’s okay to be weird.” However, Dylan’s recommendation to everyone is to simply “go on walks; clear your mind.”