Area valedictorians open up about their career choices, personal values

For the first time since 1992, McCallie School had two valedictorians: boarding students David Bowman from Athens, Ala., left, and Wes Brown of Charlotte, N.C. The two roomed together from sixth through 12th grades, were both starters on the school's soccer team and are both going to Princeton this fall. "We don't plan to room together at Princeton, at least not freshman year, so that we can get to know other people early on," says Brown.
For the first time since 1992, McCallie School had two valedictorians: boarding students David Bowman from Athens, Ala., left, and Wes Brown of Charlotte, N.C. The two roomed together from sixth through 12th grades, were both starters on the school's soccer team and are both going to Princeton this fall. "We don't plan to room together at Princeton, at least not freshman year, so that we can get to know other people early on," says Brown.

J.K. Rowling had just introduced readers to a young wizard named Harry Potter when the class of 2015 was born in 1997. NBC owned primetime with "ER," "Seinfeld" and "Friends"; the Spice Girls ruled radio and nobody had heard of an intern named Monica Lewinsky.

2015 valedictorians

See the valedictorians at high schools in the Times Free Press circulation area.

photo Brainerd High School valedictorian Robert Parker believes health care is the biggest political issue facing this country. "I think they should be finding ways to make it free. Because someone cannot afford a hospital bill doesn't mean they need to receive less service, or be in debt because of it."

Life as 2015 grads know it

Here are several things that have been true for the class of 2015 for most of their lives: * Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Travis Bickle. * They have never seen an airplane "ticket." * For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman's job in the State Department. * They can't picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it. * There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles. * Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf. * They have lived in an era of instant stardom and self-proclaimed celebrities, famous for being famous. * They know many established film stars by their voices on computer-animated blockbusters. * History has always had its own channel. * Gene therapy has always been an available treatment. * Few in the class know how to write in cursive. * Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail. * Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry. * Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess. * They've never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day. * "Viewer Discretion" has always been an available warning on TV shows. * Secondhand smoke has always been an official carcinogen. * Czechoslovakia has never existed. * Nirvana is on the classic oldies station. Source: Beloit College

photo Abigail Mabry, valedictorian at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School, says she changed her college major at the University of Georgia in order to find a job afterward." I would love to major in psychology; however, because of the limited jobs available to psychology majors, I have chosen to major in biology and take pre-med courses instead."
photo Sequatchie County High School valedictorian Brent Hurst, foreground, and Glenn Eidson sign copies of their science-fiction book, "The Destined," at Barnes and Noble at Hamilton Place. The book started five years ago when Eidson taught seventh-grade English in Sequatchie schools. Picking five of his top students, they began the book as an afterschool writing project. By the third year, only Hurst remained and they decided to complete the book by the time he graduated.

In 1997, Americans were still discovering the possibilities and getting the hang of that new "Internet" thing -- but it's all the class of 2015 has ever known. They've grown up clicking and swiping, from their Fischer Price toddler toys through college applications. The Internet has permeated every aspect of their lives from the way they make friends through social media to how they learn and research in the classroom.

Now this new class of graduates is poised to leave home for college -- to discover their potential and choose career paths. And judging from a Times Free Press survey of valedictorians from Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama, the class of 2015 has a good idea of who they are and where they are going.

Less than one-third of them (30 percent) say they're worried about finding a job after college; a whopping 62 percent are confident their field of interest will still be needed in four years.

"I originally intended to do computer science as a major as I thought it would be easier to obtain (a job) in such as vastly growing field," says Brainerd High's top student Robert Parker. "But I decided just recently to do business management. I made this decision not based on certainty of getting a job, but for the chance to get a job I might actually enjoy."

Surprisingly, those same statistics reflect their concern about paying for college: Only 30 percent are concerned and, of those, more are worried about the college debt after graduation than undergraduate expenses.

"Even with my scholarships I will have a considerable amount of debt," believes Mary Hogsett, Ringgold High's valedictorian.

The majority of respondents, 62 percent, say they have college covered either through scholarships or, in a few cases, an assist from mom and dad.

"I already have a lot of merit scholarships helping me out," says Center for Creative Arts' valedictorian Alec West. "I did successfully apply for a $10,000 scholarship, but that's the only effort I've made. I'm honestly not that worried as long as I keep total loan debt under $20,000."

Whitwell High valedictorian Emily Young says she is "blessed to attend her dream college, Middle Tennessee State University, without living in debt for the rest of her life" thanks to scholarships that will pay the majority of her tuition.

This graduating class also will be the newest generation of voters in the 2016 presidential election. As we have done in previous valedictorian salutes, the newspaper asked whether they aligned themselves yet with Republican or Democratic parties, did they consider themselves conservative or liberal, and what they considered the top challenges facing this country with which their generation will deal.

This year, as in the past, many responses show the influence of their parents' political stances (16 percent). The majority of responding valedictorians (42 percent) consider themselves conservatives while 8 percent say liberal.

The names of the political parties "are both loaded terms," answers Kale Langley of Boyd Buchanan School. "I prefer to call myself a progressive."

"I am a mix of both liberal and conservative beliefs," states Katherine Hendry of Chattanooga Christian School. "Although I disagree with gun control, am anti-abortion and tend to agree with Republican economic policy, I lean toward the left with regard to stem cell research, euthanasia and social issues. I come from a family of conservatives, but I plan on voting on policy not political lines."

But for the first year, a new -- and strong -- voice emerges from graduates. Nearly one-fourth of the class of 2015 (24 percent) declare themselves neither moderate nor liberal and do not feel affiliation to either political party.

Or as Benjamin Gruber from Signal Mountain Middle-High School puts it, "I make decisions on issues based on my unique personal values."

"Having just taken an AP government class, I am excited to be able to vote in this next election and use my voice to influence the leadership of the nation," says Charlie Rizzo, valedictorian at Silverdale Baptist Academy. He describes himself as "mostly moderate, which is a little bit different from my parents."

Rizzo goes on to say he believes the government exists to "guide and help people, but not to coddle them. I feel that it is the institutions of the family and church to reach out to people who are in need and provide shelter, food and assistance. I do not believe that it is the government's job to acquiesce the responsibility of taking care of those in poverty."

He also believes America's critical issues are "the government's ill-appropriated budget and the loss of virtues displayed by the decisions that the American public and government make."

Andrey Karnauch of East Hamilton Middle-High says he has developed his own political perceptions because his parents, who immigrated from Ukraine, have not been vocal about politics in their home.

"That being said, I am pretty liberal," he says. "One of the biggest things right now, in my opinion, is social issues such as gay marriage and women's rights. The thought of inequality from preconceived ideas along with closed-mindedness disappoints me. Everyone has so much to offer and no one should have a right to take that away."

The term "centrist" is used multiple times in the valedictorians' survey responses, as is "moderately liberal" and "progressive" -- but their definitions are all worded in some form stating their opinions are based on their personal ideologies and code of ethics as to what is best policy, not what a political party stands for.

Centrism, by definition, is a person with moderate political opinions and views. While this year's survey marked the first time the stance has shown up locally, it is in keeping with a national trend, according to the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

"Most young voters are neither traditional conservatives nor liberals. They are generally centrists whose votes are up for grabs," said Dan Glickman, institute director, in a survey report on the institute's website. "In fact, just over 50 percent of college freshmen consider themselves middle-of-the-road."

"I have a centrist, or moderate point of view," says Baily Adams of North Murray County High. "On some issues I identify with conservatives and on others I identify with liberals, but in general I believe somewhere in between the two groups.

"I think one of the most important issues in politics is education ... I believe it will take informed government intervention to fix some of the issues that plague the education system .... If we do not fix the education system, we are setting our kids up for failure."

Deja Hambright of Tyner Academy, another centrist valedictorian, also pinpoints "inequities in education" as a critical issue. "I believe that all schools should provide the same education for all students," she says.

"I am really passionate about social justice issues, particularly immigration reform, class divides and social welfare. I believe in access to education and alternative juvenile reform systems," says Anjali Chandra, one of two valedictorians at Girls Preparatory School.

Chandra, who will attend Harvard this fall, describes herself as "socially conservative and fiscally liberal."

"The most critical political issue I think we face right now is inequitable distribution of wealth and the domination of corporate fiscal policies," she writes. "By redistributing the defense budget at the government level, increasing the financial accountability of market investors and reducing waste and overconsumption by the privileged classes, we can move toward a more financially and socially equal society while reducing the debt burden."

Yasmin Foster, Ivy Academy valedictorian, says health care in America "is a critical issue."

"Obamacare was a policy that our government implemented as a solution to fix many of the problems we were facing in the past, but it seems to have contributed its own list of problems to the mix," Foster explains. "As a result, we have people in this country unable to attain proper access to physicians and pay for the medicines they need."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.

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