The Queen of Pop: This is Everything Madonna

An Excellent Student

Growing up, Madonna was a pretty good girl. She was a straight-A student, and the University of Michigan gave her a dance scholarship. She said the reason she was so motivated to get good grades was so that she could get out of her town and become somebody.

A yearbook photo of Madonna

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Obviously, it all worked out better than she could have imagined. But the singer said that when she left Detroit and headed to New York at 18, she only had $35 in her pocket. Luckily, she had a strong work ethic and managed to make her way.