- My daughter determined to turn out to be the valedictorian, so she labored further laborious to make {that a} actuality.
- She could not take days off or enroll in some courses as a result of her GPA was extra necessary.
- Since she is not assured faculty admission, I am undecided it was definitely worth the stress.
All through grade faculty, my daughter was one of many prime college students in her class. Throughout a category within the first semester of her freshman 12 months of highschool, her instructor requested her to set objectives. My daughter determined that being a valedictorian can be an excellent purpose to set. Ever since then, she’s been pursuing that purpose with full focus.
Now that she’s nearing the top of her junior 12 months, she is academically on the prime of her class. However neither of us is bound her pursuit of being a valedictorian is price it.
Making an attempt to be a valedictorian is irritating
Unsurprisingly, the trail to being a valedictorian is crammed with stress. Along with the standard worries about taking checks, my daughter stresses over variables out of her management, corresponding to doing further work to get an excellent grade when she is assigned group initiatives with college students who blow off the task.
Even calling in sick is a serious concern as a result of she’s taking a difficult schedule of superior programs and fears falling behind. There have been courses she needed to take as a result of they seemed enjoyable, however felt she could not as a result of they weren’t weighted and would wreck her grade level common.
Final 12 months, my daughter doubled up on math programs, taking Algebra 2 and Geometry in the identical 12 months. She was extremely nervous about it however knew if she did effectively in each courses, it will enhance her grade level common, maintaining her No. 1.
She received excessive A’s in each programs, which taught her a useful lesson: She should not discuss herself out of accepting a problem simply because she finds it intimidating.
However she does not really feel like she’s missed out on different issues
One concern my daughter and I shared when she determined to turn out to be a valedictorian is that it should not cease her from having an entire high-school expertise. I did not need being No. 1 in her class to turn out to be her solely id. And she or he did not need that for herself, both.
She joined three sports activities in highschool, in addition to plenty of golf equipment and organizations. She does volunteer hours for group participation and has a seasonal job, too.
We each really feel she hasn’t let her learning time maintain her again in any method. She’s been to all of the high-school dances, has a boyfriend, and has good mates.
Being a valedictorian will not possible open any doorways for her, although
If a scholar is taken with attending an Ivy League faculty, being a valedictorian could matter or give them an edge. However my daughter needs to attend the identical faculty my son does. He was No. 7 in his class and obtained the highest benefit scholarship at his faculty. The faculty does not provide any extra scholarships for being a valedictorian, and actually, I do not suppose many faculties care whether or not a potential scholar was No. 1 of their class or second or third.
My son teases my daughter about how they’re going to have the identical scholarship gives regardless that she labored a lot more durable in highschool than he did.
We’re undecided it was definitely worth the effort she put in, however we have now no regrets
Simply the opposite day, I requested my daughter if she thought making an attempt to be a valedictorian was definitely worth the effort, and he or she mentioned she wasn’t certain — and I fully agreed.
Certain, she’ll give a short speech at her commencement, however she does not love public talking and will get embarrassed within the limelight, so that does not really feel like a reward to her.
There have been enjoyable moments that we’ll all the time treasure, although. She and I’ll have nice reminiscences of all of the nights I might quiz her for upcoming checks. Whereas typically these nights had been irritating, we all the time discovered lots to snicker about.
We do not remorse the trouble, although, as a result of there can be some long-term advantages.
When she heads off to school, she can be armed with the good research habits and superb organizational expertise she developed in highschool. Plus, she could have gained confidence from setting and finishing a tough purpose, and that is a sense she’ll carry along with her for the remainder of her life.
