(Seguin) – The top students of this year’s Seguin High School graduating class say they are ready to take on the next chapter of their lives.
Named as this year’s Valedictorian is Rose Ellen Robertson, the daughter of Randolph and Michelle Robertson. Robertson will be sharing the spotlight at this Friday’s graduation ceremony with 2021
Salutatorian Kassandra Ortiz. Ortiz is the daughter of Hugo and Luz Ortiz.
Robertson says being named valedictorian is the result of many years of hard work.
“I am really honored to be valedictorian because I have worked really hard ever since middle school really and I feel like I deserve it,” said Robertson.
Robertson is also being recognized for finishing her final year all while learning from home. She says despite the challenges of a global pandemic, she remained focused on her goals.
“It’s been a crazy year. I think everyone can agree with that, but I think it has taught me a lot of self-discipline skills because I have been doing school remotely and I got to stay on top of my work and
there aren’t many people to tell me what to do. I think it will be a lot of great experience for me going to college and my career in the future,” said Robertson.
Now although she does not have specifics on her future, Robertson has plans to pursue a career in science.
“After graduation, I’m going to Texas State University and major in biology to get my bachelor’s in science. After that I might go for my master’s in a more specific field, or I might go into teaching high
school biology. I haven’t really decided that, but I have some time,” said Robertson.
Like Robertson, Ortiz has also just tackled whatever needed to get done to ensure her spot at the top.
“It means a lot to me. I’ve been working hard on getting good grades and all A’s since I guess elementary and now that I am in the top 10, I think I’m proud of what I have done,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz says COVID-19 was indeed a challenge, making her work even harder to accomplish her goals in the classroom.
“I think the most challenging thing was trying to manage my time effectively with COVID. In these times, you just don’t know if you are going to have to be quarantined again and so I had to use my planner a lot. That really helped,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz says she too has plans in the science field and is ready to pursue her career dreams.
“I am going to TLU (Texas Lutheran University) and I’m going to major in biology. Then after that, I’ll probably go to Texas A&M so I can do veterinary science and things like that,” said Ortiz.
The remaining Top 10 students named for this year’s graduating class include Casey Silvius, Aleyna Parra, Leila Martinez, Kamdyn Holt, Victor Pedraza, Cori Taylor, Louis Flores and Natonyah Suarez.
This year’s Seguin High School graduation ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at Matador Stadium.