Valedictorian or Bust!

Despite the myriad of AP and Honors classes you are taking, volunteer hours that have been accumulating, managing and attending multiple clubs, and still finding time to attend practice for a sport or two, you want more. Sleep, although in high demand is a secondary part of your daily schedule, losing its precedent to studying for the next test, working on multiple projects, your school team´s game, or maybe even sneaking a day to finally spend a day in some sunlight with your friends. Never will you be satisfied until you are the best there is at your school, the Valedictorian. However, take heed to this warning, the path to becoming the Valedictorian of your school is a vicious road with countless “all-nighters”, vast amounts of stress, and it may leave you wondering if it was worth the many sacrifices. This journey is not for the faint-of-heart.
First of all, what is Valedictorian? Why does it sound like people would slave away at studying for hours and hours on end just for a simple title at their high school? The Valedictorian at a high school is (most often) the highest ranking student. This honor includes recognition for such deep academic devotion, alongside a possible section where the Valedictorian gives the farewell speech to the graduating class of their respective year. People want this achievement because it is a proud achievement. To remember yourself as the best student in your class is a very proud moment in anyone’s life. However, besides the mild self-esteem boost, there are few other perks to mention. Colleges will not know that you were Valedictorian (considering this is often calculated well after college rush season) and not many people outside of your school will know of your grand achievement. Pride seems to be a very motivating factor as to why people would work so hard just for a long title.
Second are the rigors of your daily schedule and the deep discipline that must be followed endlessly in order to become the Valedictorian. Naturally, you attend a high school, so classes will be discussed first. The amount of strain one must put into their studious part of the day is subjective, depending on how academically savvy the students are your school. This means that on any given day, you may have to take on 3 or more advanced courses, or you may have to spread yourself as thin as taking 6 or more advanced courses (which might actually not be too uncommon). Unfortunately, “advanced” or “hard” classes will not be under your judgment. Generally, classes that will improve the standing of your rank will be the coveted Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. These are the classes that are most generally “weighted”, meaning that you get an extra point for the grade you get in that class, [rather than an A equaling four points, in a higher level class it would be worth five.] Your grades, compared to your peers will equate into a rank, which is essentially where you are in comparison to other students in your grade level. Try to do your best to maintain a respectable rank; this is probably the most accurate part of becoming valedictorian (being an important factor in whether or not you even have a chance at being #1!)
Now comes the discipline part; you need to know yourself and how long you can manage epic sessions of studying and work. What that means is that you need to understand how long you can focus on work and when you should take a short break to relax and just give your brain some down time. Another discipline that should be heavily practice is organization skills. This is because in order to manage your crazy life, you will need to always be on top of things, with minimal errors. So basically, work your hardest, know when to give yourself a break from time to time, and be organized! Now that you understand what is necessary from yourself, you will need to understand what is needed to be accomplished to become the best at your school. Valedictorian candidates at any school all come under differing prerequisites. For example, some schools may use GPA, extracurricular activities, leadership positions, participation in Honors or AP classes, or the number of taken AP exams. For that reason, you should discuss with your counselor or refer to your student handbook on how to best improve your chances for Valedictorian.
Not for the faint-of-heart, that is what was mentioned earlier and it still stands true. To become the Valedictorian of your high school is not always going to be a glorious journey. It involves many a sacrifice and may lead to moments of weakness and hopelessness. You will need to be willing, or at least understanding, that there will be weekends where you will have to spend the majority of the day studying for some exam or working on some project to preserve your immaculate grades (Yes, I do understand that some people actually hang out on weekends. You don’t go out until you’ve finished studying for every test you have on Monday!) There will be many instances during every week of the school year in which you will get much less than eight hours of sleep (oh, how I wish I could sleep that long again), which may take a deep toll on your body, considering you may also be involved in a couple of sports. Get ready to prep yourself and get out of bed to get to school even if you’re half-dying from a cold, you will not be able to afford missing classes. In conclusion, you now know what is necessary for your goal of becoming Valedictorian, but understand what you are actually doing. You need to know if it is worth the stress, fatigue, pride, and very many sacrifices. Remember who you are, who you want to be, and to look back and be proud of what you have achieved. Congratulations and good luck, you sucker.