2.3 Best in Class

Imagine going through large amounts of homework, pulling countless all-nighters, and sacrificing numerous oppurtinities of fun to work on homework. And not even getting number one in your class.
Students are getting more and more competitive than before, scoring higher GPA's each year with the inclusion of challenging A.P. classes and the studies. To get rid of the valedictorian/salutarian tradition is to take away a major incentive of top-performing students. The end result of achieving valedictorian is not so much as important but the process and competitiveness is what is most important. But what about the others? A motivated high school student does not neccessarily drive ambition from the valedictorian tradition, but through other prospects to get into college like SAT/ACT score, AP classes, etc. YEAH! AMERICA!

The top-performing students strive for the ultimate achievement much like a swimmer competing in a race. For 1st place. Or in this case, the most coveted prize of a serious student, name of Valedictorian. The major goal of most serious students are to get into a top college, which will allow opportunities for a fulfilling job of their choosing. The step to this overall plan though starts with success in high school. This success can be defined in many ways like achieving high scores on college entrance exams, scoring A's on report cards, or joining various clubs/organizations. The ultimate achievement in high school though for most students is the Valedictorian position. The best in class. The most academically achieved student deserves the best he or she get because they put in hard time for it. This ambition is not silly as in the next level of education, colleges allow only the top-performing students to pursue top careers in graduate school. This award acts much like the only real aspect of the real world in high school. The best performing student, or worker is awarded the top prize.

The end result of achieving valedictorian is not necessarily the most important aspect of high school, but rather the process that motivates high school students. The process is where skills and character are developed that will allow students to be the best they can be. The most important thing is to  motivate students to achieve discipline in their own studies and teach the character of competition that is prevalent in the modern world. This process however, can nurture some harmful side-effects. Cheating is a growing epidemic among students that is fostered by this over-ambition to achieve the number one position. It is not acceptable for students to resort to cheating no matter how rigorous the competition is and especially shameful for valedictorians to engage in cheating as well because they act as a top representative of the student body.

Valedictorian is not the prime motivation for some students. In many cases, an exceptionally smart student is not given his due rank because of circumstances of classes like taking band and football classes that count as on-level credit and ultimately hurt his GPA. Also, students who take AP classes early are sometimes forced to take on-level classes their senior year to fill their schedule due to lack of AP classes they can take at certain times. Many unfair circumstances cause students to not be given their fair rank and fall through the cracks of the system. Which is why a growing attitude of colleges put not as much emphasis on a student's class rank when the college determines the eligibility of acceptance.