Introducing the 2020 valedictorians

Jasmine Jackson

Jasmine Jackson, 18, is graduating from North High School with a GPA of 3.85. She plans to attend North Dakota State College of Science where she’ll play basketball, in the fall.

By Kenzie O'Keefe Outgoing Editor | Additional reporting by Kyla Moore

Congratulations on being valedictorian! How does it feel? I am excited, but I was not surprised at all. When I was a freshman, it was one of my goals to graduate valedictorian of our class. This last quarter, I was neck-and-neck with another girl. I didn’t care if I wasn’t going to be it because she is one of my friends. It was like "we’re in this together."

It’s a huge accomplishment. Tell us about the ingredients in your academic success. Try not to procrastinate. Try to make the work fun in some type of way. For example, I really love math. I took precalculus my junior year. It was a real small class. We made a song about an equation just to remember it.

Describe your experience being a student at North High in a couple of words. Adventurous and a challenge.

What advice do you have for younger students who aspire to succeed like you? Don’t be scared. Even if you don’t know these people at school, once you start, they will become your family. Once you see someone once, you’ll see them all the time. Once you get involved in groups, those people become your friends. It’s easier to make friends when you’re involved.

How should they figure out what to get involved in? If you want to get involved in something, ask Ms. Aram, our librarian at North High. She knows a lot about what’s happening in the school.

What are your plans for after high school? I’ll be attending North Dakota State College of Science, majoring in criminal justice and minoring in sociology. I have a scholarship to play basketball. It’s not a full ride, because I tore my ACL and meniscus and hadn’t committed to a college before I injured myself. I will have to redshirt my first year. I will be attending college in August. I’ll be living in the dorms.

How did you choose your major and minor? One day we went to shadow our basketball coach, Crystal Taylor, at her job. She’s a probation officer. It seemed fun. We talked to lawyers, judges, defense attorneys, and detectives. She helps people get their lives on track. I took intro to sociology at MCTC for PSEO. We learned why people do the things they do. It made me feel more interested.

How do you feel about moving far away from home? I feel no type of way about it. I always wanted to leave Minnesota. It’s boring. I’ve been here 18 years of my life. I want a new experience, a new vibe.

You’ll be giving a speech at North High’s graduation. What do you most want to convey to the people who will be listening? A little bit of what we’re going through with COVID-19. It isn’t the way we wanted it to end, but we’re still achieving our goals. Some of my goals were graduating with a 3.8 or higher, being an award winner, and being a mentor. I love my senior class. I love how small we are. We’re so close.

Your senior year is ending quite differently than you must have expected. How are you thinking about that? Not being able to walk across the stage at graduation hit us really hard. There will be no senior prank, no senior skip day, and we don’t get to spend time with each other. We’ll be graduating on a Zoom call. I’m hurt. There’s no fun or excitement in it.

Is there anything special you’re planning to celebrate your accomplishments? I don’t know. Everybody has a grad party. I’ll have one. It’s going to be a big one because I didn’t get a graduation.

Who or what in your life inspires you? Myself. Everything I was going through as a child, I didn’t really let it affect me. I persevered through anything. My best friend Taylor also inspires me. I’ve been knowing her since kindergarten. We’ve been through everything together. We didn’t let anything stop us. A YoungLife leader named Mackenzie also inspires me. That’s probably the closest adult I have to me at the moment. She’s always a text away. She helped me with my college decision. She’s always there and I truly appreciate it.

When you look 10 years in the future, where do you want to be? I will have three children, two degrees, and a nice house. I will be a social worker. I don’t know where I’m going to live yet, but somewhere nice. I will be involved in some kind of mentorship program, something that involves kids. I will be married.

Are there any words you live by? Yes, a scripture: “the pain that you’re feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming.” You might be in a bad place right now, but eventually they will be better. Things don’t stay bad for long. There will be some kind of light in your situation. Ask yourself what am I gaining from this and what am I learning from this?

Is there anything else you’d like to say to your community? Thank you for everything that you guys have done. Thank you for your support. To my classmates, I’m proud of you all. We did it.

Nayeli Hernandez Limas

Nayeli Hernandez Limas, 18, is graduating from Patrick Henry High School with a GPA of 3.97. She plans to live at home in North Minneapolis while attending the University of Minnesota this fall.

By Kenzie O'Keefe Outgoing Editor

Congratulations on being valedictorian! How does it feel? I had no idea I would be the valedictorian. I was speechless when I found out. I thought they had made a mistake. Even though I am still processing it, it is a huge honor to be able to carry the title.

It is a huge accomplishment. Tell us the ingredients of your academic success. My number one motivation was my parents. They have always pushed me to value my education since they didn’t have the opportunity to have a good education. With all the things they have done for me, I thought it was the least I could do.

Describe your experience being at Henry in a couple of words. Whew! A roller coaster. It’s had its ups and downs. Some of the ups are my teachers and friends, just spending time with them. My teachers are funny and made my classes fun to be in. Some of the downs are a couple of fights. The hallways were always packed.

How long have you attended Henry High? What were you involved in? I’ve been going there for four years. I have played sports—softball for two years and soccer for three years. I was in drama club my freshman and sophomore year.

What advice do you have for younger students who aspire to your level of academic success? Try and build strong relationships with both teachers and friends. In high school, relationships break. You should try to build a strong structure to your relationships so they don’t break over small things. Also, just keep persevering; keep pushing yourself.

What are your plans for after high school? For a long time, I was undecided about what I wanted to do with my future. Recently I decided I wanted to pursue computer science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I knew I wanted to go there but I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I thought maybe I was interested in the arts. I took on an internship at an architecture company and decided it wasn’t for me. I decided on computer science. I love it and want to improve software in the future.

You’ll be giving a speech at Henry’s graduation. What do you most want to convey to the people who will be listening? I know we’ve been through a lot this year. We started off good, happy about being seniors. Then the new year came and a lot went down. Now we’ve come to the realization that we’re still starting a new chapter of our life. We should continue going straight, looking ahead, aiming for happiness and success. Throughout all of these challenges, we should just keep trying.

Because of the coronavirus, your senior year is ending quite differently than you must have expected. How are you thinking about that? For starters, it is sad and disappointing that I won’t get to experience the feeling of walking across a stage and receiving my diploma and shaking my principal's hand and getting to thank my parents. But, I’m thankful we are graduating.

What do you want the larger community to know about how the coronavirus is affecting high school seniors? It’s quite depressing. It took a really important day away from us. We still have graduation but it won’t be a traditional one. I want people to know that we feel sad and we wanted a graduation.

Is there anything special you’re planning to celebrate your accomplishments? I am the second person in my family to graduate high school; my family was really looking forward to it. We were thinking of making food and getting together and having a party. Because of social distancing, we won’t be able to do that. I won’t be able to celebrate like I wanted to with all my family. Instead, we’ll still decorate and make food just for us, my parents and two younger sisters.

Who or what in your life inspires you? My parents inspire me. Both of my parents are hard workers! My dad works hard to provide for my family and is always trying to put a smile on my face. My mom has worked hard to raise her children and has taught me many important life lessons. I love my parents so much and am grateful for everything they've done for me.

When you look 10 years in the future, where do you want to be? I want to be happy. I hope I find a good job that I love. I hope I get a chance to travel and explore the world. Before my plans were canceled, I was going to go to Morocco this year. I also want to go to Switzerland. The landscape is just so pretty. I’ve seen a lot of pictures. I want to canoe there.

Are there any words you live by? “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” It’s by Confucius.

Guest UserMay 27, 2020