Valedictorian, Central Valley High School, Ceres, Calif. What kind of experiences will you create for yourself? What kind of memories will you make? When things don't go quite as planned, like our senior year, how you handle the disappointments and challenges that you face will determine the experience that you have and the memory you walk away with. We'll continue to experience things and make memories every day that mold us here and there and to who we truly are and who we are meant to become.

All of the things that we have been through up to this point make us who we are, and the best part is, we're not done yet. We are made up of our experiences and memories. Losing the last third of our senior year to a virus was not what we had planned, but it's definitely an experience that will affect our lives forever and a memory that we will never, ever forget. Some of us lost our final opportunities to perform or display our art, and all of us lost the chance to have all of the fun and closure that we were promised would come in the last three months of our senior year. Some lost our final chances to compete for clubs that we've given our all to for the last four years. Some of us lost our senior sports seasons, our chances to be captains and team leaders. Instead, it is important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages. Classmates, when we're out in the real world, don't get discouraged about the obstacles that will approach you.ДЄs Michelle Obama once said, you should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. I want those little girls to know that they can do it if no one else believes in them, I will always believe in them. I'm especially glad that I earned this position so that all of the other little girls around Lake City and surrounding areas can look and say that they want to be just like me.

I'm glad that I didn't let them get to me. I've had people tell me that I don't deserve to be where I am now, and that really made me contemplate, 'Do I really deserve this? Should I just give up and let them win?' But look at where I am now. Many people didn't, and probably still don't believe that I have worked hard enough to be where I am now. Valedictorian, Lake City High School, Lake City, S.C. Just as the tornado creates a path in the wake of its destruction, this class of 2020 will, too, create their own, hopefully without the whole destruction part. Life rarely hands you a golden opportunity, so make one. Inevitably, I know I will come upon a hard stop, and I hope that when I do, I'll remind myself to pause and ask for a hand of enlightenment, so that I might come back from that hard experience knowing more than when I started. By admitting ignorance, you are asking to learn. Lastly, the phrase 'I don't know' is powerful. You never know when you'll need to fall back on someone, so build strong connections early and maintain them. It could even solve a few of the world's problems. Trust sows the seeds of freedom, and a little respect truly does go a long way. Make life something you want to reminisce on. Buy that oversized $30 pack of UNO that is literally impossible to shuffle just so you can say you own it. Take that ridiculously difficult course load. Always attempt to answer questions and solve problems. The first piece of advice I want to share is to always try new things and challenge yourself, even if you think it's a bad idea in the process. The sharing of knowledge is just as important as receiving it because, without sharing, knowledge has no value. When we stop to observe our surroundings, we are oftentimes provided with new perspectives on our situations.' I saw families spending time together, like children playing basketball on their driveways, or fathers teaching their own kids to ride bikes. 'One minute, I would be fine and dandy, and then the next minute, I would be crying.'ДЄs she pedaled through her neighborhood each day, those bike rides forced her to stop and take in the world around her - and they became the inspiration behind these words in her valedictorian speech: I was a ticking time bomb,' says the 18-year-old, who's headed to Northwestern State University in the fall. 'I would say the first two to three weeks we were out of school, I was not the most fun person to be around.

East Ascension High School Valedictorian Emma Cockrum at her home in Prairieville, La., on June 1, 2020.Д®mma Cockrum was in her second week of quarantine when her father discovered an old bike behind their house.ДЄnd that bicycle turned out to be a gift: With school closed at East Ascension High School in Gonzales, La., bike riding for Emma became a way of coping with the loss of the rest of her senior year.

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