Valedictorian -

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hello fellow high schoolers/college students,
I considered typing out my full-on story and situation, but I don't want to elaborate on something when I'm not sure who's interested. So all I'm going to say is: VALEDICTORIAN. I am a sophomore in high school... if you'd like to know about my position and accomplishments, see my last thread! It's like a mini autobiography of my life thus far :) </p>

<p>What I want to know right now is... the best advice/tips/ideas to becoming valedictorian. It's based on purely GPA and the amount of high classes you take. The only problem is I'm up against a boy whose brother was Valedictorian with highest GPA in history of our school, and this boy is receiving all the benefits, exceptions, and special treatments because of his brother. It's all a scandal. I am not going to give up that easily, though, just because he has a dad with lots of money and a brother with a big reputation. I believe it is brain over beauty (beauty is a metaphor for the attractiveness of his highly lucky situation). </p>

<p>PLEASE give me advice. If you'd like to hear more about it, please message me or let me know in the comments and I will MOST DEFINITELY be GLAD to tell you all the full details and story of what I'm dealing with in this race to valedictorian..</p>

<p>And please don't come just to tell me I shouldn't worry about my class rank anyway. It is a dream I have, just like many other dreams. I have no siblings or extremely helpful "connections"/"relations" to unfairly give me an advantage over my opponent. I believe the fair and true win in any situation or circumstance. Do you believe that, too? It's a dream I've had since my very first years of school: to be valedictorian. I have the drive and motivation.</p>

<p>I've been dealing with this unfair situation for a while, though. And I will be so pleased to hear anyone's input on what I can do.</p>

<p>short example of his unfair situation: We have to be 16 to dual enroll, but they let him do it as a 14 year-old just because his brother was valedictorian. I just recently found this out--it's giving him an unfair, additional GPA and that's why he's rigidly at #1 class rank and I'm stuck in #2. I was wondering for a while why my rank wouldn't move. He has 3 AP Classes this year and I have 4. I was so confused! And then I learned he was given the dual enrollment class--yet they tell us we can't because we have to be 16.</p>

<p>Now that I know this I am going to fight for my honor and I am going to confront the school about this situation, and demand to be allowed the same treatment. The school should not be allowed to give other students the upper hand just because of a prejudice situation. Everyone should have level ground in any competition of any sorts. </p>

<p>With these advantages he receives, it is basically like all my efforts are for nothing and his number 1 rank was just predetermined. THAT SHOULDN'T BE FAIR.</p>

<p>Please don't also tell me "life isn't fair". In this circumstance, there are things I should be able to do to surprise everyone and achieve number one.</p>

<p>Its basically the situation of the tortoise and the hare. He's the hare and he's so relax and confident he will become the valedictorian because he's being given all these extra opportunities the rest of us aren't receiving. LOL if I were him, I would be pretty chillax too! </p>

<p>I promised I'd keep this short.</p>

<p>PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR HEARTS!!!!</p>

<p>Put yourself in my shoes, please. You can imagine the helplessness and frustration I am feeling. </p>

2

<p>Why do you want to be valedictorian so badly?</p>

<p>20 years from now, people will be asking about your career, not whether you were valedictorian during high school.</p>

<p>As FDR said, “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.”</p>

3

<p>Dude calm down…if it helps I received a likely letter from an HYP and I am only like top 5%. Valedictorian is pretty irrelevant. I go to one of the best HS’ in the country and yes it’s clear that there will be a tie for valedictorian but like noone cares people just do their own thing and do all of the work they’re suppose to but noone cares about it.</p>

4

<p>Chill out.</p>

<p>I was valedictorian at my HS (disclaimer: my HS is small, graduating class around 40-45) – you get some fame and get to deliver the speech to your class, graduation parties are a lot of fun, but nowadays I rarely if ever get asked if I was valedictorian. I’d focus more on getting into the best college you can get to, and more importantly, finding what you really enjoy doing/studying.</p>

5

<p>Pretty much what everyone above said. Just remain in the top 5-10%. If anything if you want to prove that you’re one of the smartest people in your school or the smartest in your school go out and try to win some state/national level competitions. At the end of the day people will remember the math whizzes and debate champions who brought their high school trophies and glory rather than the kid who got good grades.</p>

6

<p>Hey, it’s you again! You can do it! Don’t listen to the others when they tell you to calm down or anything, because Valedictorian does matter. If you didn’t want to go to college, but instead into the workforce, then you could probably get a job if you said that you were the valedictorian. When you come out of college and you’re the valedictorian, then you’ll probably get a job. Just try as HARD as you can to maintain an A in everything, and dual-enroll! That will bring you up, I promise. XD</p>

7

<p>These threads by wanna be valedictorians are dispelling any positive impression I might have had about that title. You said you don’t want to hear people asking why you want this, so I’ll leave that alone. </p>

<p>Regarding your “competitor”'s “unfair” “advantages”: First of all you go on and on about these advantages but the only specific thing you mentioned is that he was allowed to dual enroll at a younger age than the usual rule. This is one “advantage” not plural. Did you ask whether you could dual enroll? Or are you just saying it’s unfair because he asked and you didn’t? </p>

<p>You are accusing the school of allowing him this privilege because of his brother. I very highly doubt that is true. Have you considered that perhaps he was able to make a case for being allowed to dual enroll which has nothing to do with his brother? My own daughter was allowed into more advanced classes than the written rules would have permitted. She didn’t have an older sibling. She was allowed these exceptions on her own record because it was clear she was ready for them.</p>

<p>“this boy is receiving all the benefits, exceptions, and special treatments because of his brother.” He was let into one dual enrollment class and you actually have no idea why this decision was made–were you there when it happened? “just because he has a dad with lots of money”. Huh? This boy was allowed into one dual enrollment class and you come on here and post a long self-pitying and accusatory rant. </p>

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<p>@tacoperson123‌ YOU ARE THE BEST PERSON EVER <333 Thank you!! I really need this!!! </p>

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<p>@mathyone I said advantages plural because there is more than one, and I specifically mentioned I am only going to say one but if anyone wants to know about the rest, they can message me or ask me for the rest. </p>

<p>For your information, I did ask (three times actually) and they said no, yet said yes to him. You are not allowed to explain to me what is fair or not, and what this boy’s situation is when you do NOT know anything about it or the circumstances surrounding him. I tried to keep my thread short, so did not expel the entire details. </p>

<p>I, as well, have had advanced situations in my life: I was allowed to skip a grade and went ahead in math by three years of my other classmates. In my high school, everyone knows the unfair situation of this boy. All the students talk about it. He is a very loud and extroverted young man and he enjoys telling the tale of how he will beat his brother’s GPA by “gaming the system”. He’s not shy about it. </p>

<p>When I was seven years old, I was diagnosed with a severe form of Crohn’s Disease. I was 63 pounds for seven years–you either want to believe it or you don’t. It doesn’t matter to me what you want to think of me: you can say I’m a liar or I am self-pitying but I at least hold on to hope that there are people out there with COMPASSION and KINDNESS. Those are good things to have. Compassion and support and kindness; those are the three things I believe this website had. Until you posted your very nice and interesting comment. </p>

<p>When I come home from school at 2:20 I don’t eat a snack and I instead have dinner at 4:30 PM (unusual situation) and insert an NG (through the nose and down the esophagus) tube which feeds me Ensure Plus, the ONE way I can gain ACTUAL weight, untillllllllll 5 AM, which is when I wake up for school. Breakfast is skipped and I go to school, then come home, and the cycle begins again with the night feeds. Well, you can be sure homework usually lasts until 12 AM because I not only do homework, but I go ahead in lessons or study for my SAT/ACT and future examinations. </p>

<p>So you say you won’t ask me why I want this because I said so. THAT is why. THAT is why valedictorian is important. THAT is why I post an (according to you) self-pitying and “accusatory” (interesting choice of words considering you don’t know the whole story) “RANT”. Is this rant good enough for you? </p>

<p>Next time, I hope you are careful before you post a comment on someone’s page. I did not mention Crohn’s in my original post because I didn’t want to be “SELF-PITYING” and “ACCUSATORY”. Seems I already did so? Hahaha. I never would have wanted to bring my situation on here. But you left me no choice; you blatantly bashed my opinions and dreams on a single comment due to your lack of knowledge of my situation. I don’t expect you to know anything about me, but I do expect that as an adult you would know better than to attack someone’s thread when you don’t know the situation.</p>

<p>Are you in my school? Do you interact with this boy? Do you deal with my condition and life? Do you know how it feels to be 75 pounds and 15 years old, without your period, without puberty, with nothing but a dream and a brain? Do you understand how it feels to be told you can’t go to a good college because you can’t leave your city because it would mean leaving your doctor? Do you know what it means for a 13 year old to be told they may possibly develop cancer in later years? Do you even know how it feels to insert an NG tube by yourself? Do you realize the mental and physical impact and repercussions of my life? </p>

<p>I didn’t ask for this stress and “competition” and “non-positive” connotation the word valedictorian now gives you. If I was normal and didn’t deal with the things I deal with, why in the WORLD would I EVER be so SERIOUS and “self-pitying” (according to you) about such a “trivial” matter? It’s because I’m not normal that I care.</p>

<p>If my life is just these short years, and if I may not live past high school due to my health conditions, and God knows what digestive cancers I could develop, I want to at least leave a legacy. I want to know that with my abnormal situation and life, I was able to accomplish the greatest thing I could. I can’t be an athletic star. I can’t even be a marching band star. I can’t think about occupations or college, because I honest to God might not live that long. I can only depend on an NG tube for that long.</p>

<p>But I can be an academic star. The one thing that works normally is my brain, and I am grateful for that. That is what I want to use as best as I can, while I’m still alive and breathing and functioning. </p>

<p>There is no reason to kill ourselves over a ranking title, that is true. If I had the liberty of deciding my path in life, then I would say the same thing. Except I can’t think about college right now – I’m not doing this for them. You can rest assured I won’t get to that point in my life. I won’t experience many things; I’ll probably never experience a job, a college graduation, a husband, children, a life of my own, my wedding, even my first kiss. All I have is here and now. All I have is what I want to make of myself while I still can. Why would I ever want to sit around and let myself go to waste? With the life I have left, I want to live it the best I can.</p>

<p>There are better people out there: a lot healthier, a lot smarter, a lot more creative, a lot more prodigious. I’m not saying I’m perfect. But I want to be able to look back wherever I may be and be proud of myself. So the question is not why. The question is WHY NOT.</p>

<p>So THIS is my life. THIS is the reason for everything. I’m 15. I should be out with friends, experiencing a boyfriend, experiencing high school, planning college, planning my future, thinking about my future plans, thinking about the future, period. But I can’t. That’s the thing; I can’t. I could cry, I could scream, I could shout, but it won’t change a thing. I believe we were put on Earth for a reason. I guess this is my reason. I haven’t quite figured out why I was made this way, but I’m going to accept it. </p>

<p>For your additional information, although there’s no reason for you to know this, I just want to let you know I went to the administration today and they were all upset and they told me he did this without the knowledge of the guidance and used the district order to go in. As you mentioned, “maybe it wasn’t his brother”, it WAS. It was confirmed that he was using a sibling relationship to enter. Our principal who recently retired knew his brother and signed him in for the dual enrollment so he could jump ahead in GPA and ensure his valedictorian status. </p>

<p>The school supported me and opened a door for me to be able to also dual enroll. The rules were broken by this boy, and they let me in as well. I want to be able to experience dual enrollment anyway; it will be like the college experience I’ll never have. It should be fun; I’m really excited.</p>

<p>For dual enroll, you have to have taken SAT/ACT/PERT or be 16 years old. He did not have any of those requirements. So there is no “case” you can make. Our state has strict rules when it comes to that. Rules were bent due to connections and relations. Before I even went to my guidance counselor, she told me the entire department was confused and frustrated over it. I know that if I was to find this out later I would always regretted the chances I didn’t take and the things I didn’t do.</p>

<p>I appreciate everything you’ve said to me. I’m sorry to be such an accusatory and “self-pitying” person. I’ll tuck me, my Crohn’s, my failing health, and my life away.</p>

<p>I would have privately messaged this but I wanted EVERYONE to know what YOU said and what I said.</p>

<p>So this is the world I live in? At least I know what I’ll be leaving behind.</p>

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<p>@SallyStephens‌ I understand where you’re coming from, but is school really your own outlet? I also have a disability like you, so don’t think that I’m just a random dude posting on this thread. </p>

<p>It’s great to leave a legacy, but being a valedictorian is not the way to go. To be honest, I don’t even remember the valedictorian from 3 years ago, but I do remember the kid from 5 years ago who used all of his efforts to do research in order to explain fission in certain dimensions, the first time in history. School is a bunch of theoretical information. Use your brain to make those theoretical solutions into reality instead of haply competing with your students to get an award that will not be remembered in 3 years. I’m sorry, but it’s the harsh truth. Find a passion and go after it with everything you see. Everything else will fall in line, I promise. </p>

<p>I’ll stop writing now, since I hate writing, but I wish you the best of luck. :wink: </p>

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<p>Look, I’m sorry you are ill. But you are exactly right "I’m 15. I should be out with friends, experiencing a boyfriend, experiencing high school, planning college, planning my future, thinking about my future plans, thinking about the future, period. But I can’t. " Get over this valedictorian destructive competitiveness and live your life to the fullest. Honestly valedictorian is not any kind of legacy and no one will care about that. Be a good friend and community member and you will be remembered fondly.</p>

<p>Incidentally, many Universities have good medical centers associated with them within walking distance of the dorms. I also once had a friend, an adult with Crohns. She relocated for a new job and I lost track of her, but no, you are not trapped where you are.</p>

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<p>Also, I think you should see a counselor. </p>

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<p>Honestly, the valedictorian thing isn’t worth it. </p>

<p>Our valedictorian from 2 years ago failed Calc 3. They aren’t doing well. </p>

<p>Our salutatorian that lost by a very small amount is getting extremely good grades at a top 30 university. </p>

<p>Focus your time towards doing things you like that are worth the memories. Yes, more people might remember you as a whole for a short period of time if you are the valedictorian, but you can make more of an impact if you do research or something and be a good friend. </p>

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<p>Tacoperson said “When you come out of college and you’re the valedictorian, then you’ll probably get a job.” Actually even by then (4 years later) it will be just plain awkward to announce at a job interview that you were a valedictorian. And there is no place to put this on a grad school application. </p>

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<p>^ If I could I would edit my post to add that I cried in high school when my class rank fell from 2 to 4 out of 550 because I took a journalism class instead a final year of french and the former wasn’t weighted as high as the latter. But really there was no way I could have inserted this story into any college conversation because post high school, no one cares.</p>

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<p>@mathyone Thanks for the counselor suggestion but I don’t need one when I have my parents and my best friend. I like talking to family members a lot more than a counselor because they know and understand me tons more ^_^</p>

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<p>@CheddarcheeseMN Cool thanks!!! I’m still going to try but won’t beat myself up over it :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>Most people don’t get that some people really WANT to be the valedictorian. You can’t blame them for something they aspire and set goals for. We all, on this website, try to get A’s. Some people even ‘cry’ if they get below an A. Valedictorian shows off (some) of your hard work. Some valedictorians actually game the system, and some actually are honest people! SallyStephens is an honest, aspiring valedictorian. She probably likes to be recognized for her success, much like we all like to be recognized for awards. If you deserve to be the valedictorian then you should have it. Just because your older brother was the valedictorian doesn’t mean that you should be it. </p>

<p>I really love tacos. Do you think that I’m going to stop eating tacos because some people tell me that they are nasty? No, I will not because I really like them. In Sally’s case, she really would like to be valedictorian. Telling her that it’s a ‘bad goal,’ or ‘something so stupid’ isn’t going to stop her. These are the types of people who deserve to succeed.</p>

<p>Sally, you’ll always have my support! Your story and aspirations have always been interesting! Keep it up!</p>

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<p>@tacoperson123‌ YOU ARE THE BEST thank you so much… this honestly meant the world to me. I am so proud of you by the way! I’m beyond glad I’ll always have support from people like you as well! </p>

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<p>It sounds like your desire to be valedictorian IS being destructive
Having goals and dreams you want to achieve is okay, but your saying that you wont waste anytime doing anything else!? Your trying so hard it sounds like your not even living. You don’t want to experience high school, you don’t want to plan for college, you don’t want a love. What are you even going to do after you become valedictorian, if you even get it. Once high school is over, you’ll have spent so much time trying to become valedictorian that you have nothing else. I know that even the best people in my school have time to enjoy themselves, be with friends, and have other hobbies. Im not saying that your never happy, but its something thats important that you cant negociate on.
Valedictorian is a competition that you can’t win without cheating the system. You needed the rules to be bent towards you to also get the dual enrollment to stay in the running. But the sad truth in life is that sometimes working exceptionally hard ever guarantees success. Good things don’t have to come to good people and vice-versa. In some cases it doesnt matter who DESERVES it more. It doesn’t matter what you had to overcome or what the boy’s brother did, or being fair. In the end its all about who can take more APs and game the system in their favor more. That boy is probably working hard too. You got mad at mathyone for not understanding your circumstances yet everyone is living a life that absolutely no one else truly knows about. working If you spend every moment focusing on this one thing, and you lose, your going to feel like you lost everything. Is being vaedictorian all that matters to you, youre a human, not a studying machine. Dont get too caught up in being valedictorian or you will crash sometime. If you really think its worth it then go ahead. You do have a shot at becoming valedictorian, but dont make your entire life worth playing chase up with the boy. Theres so much more to life.</p>