Shelby Boswell may not have known in elementary school that she wanted to be the valedictorian as a senior, but she knew she wanted to be first in everything that she set out to do.

That mentality led her to becoming Meadowview Christian School’s 2017 valedictorian graduating with a 3.97 grade point average.

“I’m really excited,” Boswell said of being named the valedictorian. “I’ve worked really hard for my whole life. I think I’ve made one B my whole entire life.”

Boswell participated in volleyball, basketball, softball, Beta Club, National Honor Society, robotics, ACE competition, Scholars Bowl and the math team during high school and said she received the highest average in all of her senior classes.

“It’s a bitter sweet moment [graduating],” Boswell said. “I’m going to miss high school, I know I am but I’m ready to get out of there too. Life just moves on whether you’re ready for it to or not, so I just got to go with it.”

Boswell said one of the things she’ll remember most about high school is homecoming and the tailgate that the school had.

“This year we had a football tailgate. Our class is very opinionated, we all have our own opinions so we never really could agree on anything,” Boswell said. “But finally, we all came together on a Hawaiian theme. We all brought food in and we had a fire pit and we all dressed out. It was really cute. We sat around a fire and my friend … played her ukulele and we sang songs the whole time. It was really fun and we ended up winning for our decorations and our food.”

Boswell is the daughter of Darrick and Tami Boswell, and she said her dad is the most influential person in her life.

“My dad has taught me perseverance, dedication, all of those things that have worked toward me becoming valedictorian of my class,” Shelby said. “He’s taught me a bunch of life lessons and morals to go by. My dad is my biggest role model. I love my dad so much.”

Overall, Shelby said she is sad to leave the school and city she has called home, but she is excited to venture out and see what’s next for her in attending Stillman College and working toward becoming a physical therapist.

“I love Meadowview Christian. It’s probably the best school ever,” Shelby said. “Everybody there is like family. We’re so small. My graduating class has 11 kids, so we’re all like brothers and sisters and the teachers there really care about you and they want to see you succeed and you’re not going to get that everywhere.”