JAY – On Sunday, Jay High School will say goodbye to its seniors, and leading them out will be valedictorian Chelsea Buck.
Buck said her success in middle school motivated her to continue the hard work when she moved on to high school.
“In middle school they would always tell me that I was at the top of my class,” she said. “So I (kept) pulling myself up and tried to stay at the top of my class in high school as well.”
After graduating, Buck will attend Springfield College in Massachusetts. She plans to major in physical therapy, a career choice she said was sparked by a recent accident.
“I broke my arm this summer, and I had to go there every week, and I thought it would be a good career,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do something medical for awhile, but probably in the last year I focused in on physical therapy.”
Buck said Springfield College was her choice because of its strong academic program, and because it is different than where she grew up.
“It’s a really nice campus, and they have a really good physical therapy program, and I kind of wanted to try life away from Maine to see what it was like.”
Outside of academics Buck specialized in gymnastics, where she was required to travel to Skowhegan to practice. She now says one of her future aspirations is to be a gymnastics coach.
But she quickly added that the high school experience is not one she wants to forget.
“I’ll just look back on it and say I had fun,” she says.
Adding to the fun for Buck is that her best friend Katie Mastine is the salutatorian of the class. She said they took nearly every class together and enjoyed the high school experience together, further adding to the honor of being first and second at graduation.
While Buck was aiming for valedictorian honors for awhile, she said she is still looking forward to graduation because there is still a lot of pride that goes along with officially achieving the position.
“Obviously I’m happy because I worked hard and did all my work, so it’s nice to get recognized for it,” she said. “It’s a big honor because you’re singled out among all those people and they say you’re the best.”
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