Valedictorians are important because they can show a lot about a student’s success. Many students feel pressure to get good grades, it could be personal, or pressure from parents to always do better. This can either be good or bad with the pressure of school in general. According to a PEW study, 61 percent of teens say they feel a lot of pressure to get good grades. Valedictorian is a big accomplishment, but some schools like, aren’t celebrating that tradition. It can feel invalidating for the students who worked so hard not to get any recognition. Reasons why schools don’t celebrate this tradition could be due to anxiety and harm to other students.

There can be certain advantages to being valedictorian, higher chances of acceptance to prestigious universities, and respect and recognition from peers, teachers, and the community. “Being valedictorian this year feels great, I feel accomplished and proud of myself for all the work I did and I’m glad it’s over,” Janelle Edwards (12) said.

Valedictorian is an amazingly great accomplishment. Students try very hard to get an achievement close to valedictorian. Nearly 90 percent of valedictorians in high school pursue very successful high-tier jobs, making a recipe for success.

Being valedictorian comes with a price to pay. There are certain disadvantages to being valedictorian, it is also difficult to keep a healthy lifestyle with all the pressure of doing good in school. It can create bad habits, like sleeping late, reducing self-esteem, and unnecessary stress.  Students often sacrifice their social lives to focus entirely on academics, losing treasured high school experiences for a title.

“I’m really happy with all the hard work I’ve done this year, but it got really tiring at some point where I didn’t know if I wanted to keep trying or not,” Ginelle Loza (12) said.