NO PRESSURE
The intense high school competition of grades, Advanced Placement classes, extracurricular activities and academic glory that often comes to mind when one hears the word “valedictorian” is a somewhat bloated illusion of something much more basic in its origins. Valedictorian is an Anglicized derivation of the Latin vale dicere, which means to bid farewell. The valedictorian is simply the student chosen to bid farewell to the community on behalf of their graduating class.
But over the years, the tradition has become inherently linked with the “best” student, because the honor of giving a speech is generally afforded to the pupil with the highest grade point average. Though the history of valedictorian speeches is not easy to track, Princeton University in New Jersey, for example, has a tradition of graduation commencement speeches dating back to the mid-1700s, and somewhere along the way it became the job of the highest ranking student to deliver the goods on Graduation Day there as well as at many other colleges.
Valedictorian speeches have sometimes veered into controversial territory, with speakers advocating for civil rights and sexual choice or tearing away at some of the inner fabric of academic institutions — including bullying and inequality.
But the main purpose of the valedictorian address is to inspire the other graduates. And to get up in front of parents, teachers and friends and say something that is not only meaningful but makes the rest of the class feel appreciated, takes much more than an academic gift.
Because saying goodbye to anything or anyone is usually a hard thing to do, so to eloquently bid farewell to a world that has defined you for four years of your life takes more than hard work and willingness: It takes a heap of creative thought and, quite frankly, guts.
“I do think I have put in a lot of work,” said Eli Poppele, this year’s valedictorian at the Academy of Technology and the Classics. “But it’s kind of strange to be one of those two people who get to give a speech at graduation. There are a lot of people in my grade who have worked really hard.”
Waco Horne, Santa Fe High’s 2017 valedictorian, agreed. “There’s a really smart cohort of people at Santa Fe High who all deserve academic acknowledgement. … Really I’d say that everyone there has something that sets them apart.”
This feeling of wanting to speak on behalf of the achievements of the entire graduating class is widespread among this year’s Santa Fe valedictorians. Santa Fe Waldorf High School has a co-valedictorian pair in Sophie Linett and Zoe Whittle, who are graduating with exactly the same grade point average — 3.99.
“I’m going to be the one who delivers the speech,” said Whittle. “But Sophie and I will write it together, and we’ll also get feedback from the rest of the class. I don’t want the speech to be just from the two of us. … It needs to reflect the hopes and dreams of the class as a whole.”
If the graduating class at any one high school has so much to offer, then what sets a valedictorian apart?
Abbey Dahlman , the valedictorian at St. Michael’s High School, put it this way: “I try my best in all that I do.”
So does Whittle, who said a sense of curiosity and desire to achieve helps. “I’m interested in pretty much every subject, and I always want to do the best I possibly can,” she said. “I can’t stand the idea of doing something halfway, even when I’m not interested in the subject — and I’m almost always interested.”
For others, the academic challenges of high school are a necessary medium to prove who they are to themselves or the world, and that desire to overcome those barriers has put them at the top of their class. And for Horne and Emma Koolpe, this year’s valedictorian at Santa Fe Prep, the challenge to prove themselves was very specific. “In eighth grade, when we were signing up for high school classes, I wanted to take an AP class and the counselor told me there was no way I would pass it,” Horne said. “Ever since then, I’ve just wanted to prove him wrong.”
Koolpe faced a more personal challenge: She was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was in seventh grade. “I was frustrated when I couldn’t get the grades I wanted,” she said. “My parents encouraged me to try my best and not focus on the letter grades. I have followed their advice, and the grades have taken care of themselves.” Now, she said, as valedictorian, “I am surrounded by very bright minds and am proud to represent my school.”
Yet others do not find as much significance in the title or responsibility of being class valedictorian. Amelia Linett (Sophie’s twin sister) is Desert Academy’s valedictorian this year. She earned
that position by studying “way too much, which is important in a limited sense but in no way makes me feel like I deserve the title top of the class,” she said. “There are tons of people in my grade who are smarter than me, more skilled at a given subject, more creative, inventive, eloquent, whatever.”
Because of her mixed feelings around the role — and because she hates talking in front of crowds — Amelia Linett opted out of giving a speech at graduation. She and her classmates voted on choosing the graduation commencement speakers instead. “Sometimes traditions have to be renovated,” Linett said. “I was really glad that my school was able to look beyond what we’d done in the past in favor of something a bit more democratic and natural.”
The speech itself is a difficult thing to write and deliver for any class speaker. “I feel like I’m in no position to be giving anyone any advice,” said Horne. “We’ve all gotten 24 and a half credits; we’re all walking across that stage.” And saying
goodbye to a time Horne described as “lovely yet hectic, calm yet chaotic, and enjoyable, yet at times depressing,” is pretty tough, he said.
Then there’s always the issue of trying to be funny and maintain a sense of class and decorum at the same time. “The real struggle was making it [the valedictorian speech] humorous and witty enough for my classmates, but appropriate enough for my grandma,” Dahlman said.
And yet, on Graduation Day, every senior earning a diploma should feel excited about making it to the end of this chapter of their lives, knowing another chapter is ready to start by summer’s end.
“The truth is, we should all be proud of whatever we can accomplish as long as we try our hardest,” Koople said.