Valedictorian's perfect attendance record since Pre-K earns her a $430k scholarship
The feeling of getting up for school can range from “Doesn’t bother me” to “This sucks, I need 3 more hours of sleep”, depending on who you are. Our 6-7 a.m wake up times always felt a couple hours too early. Can you imagine doing that every school day without missing a single day?
Hold that thought, because this girl did just that.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCDNJKHlQCt/?hl=en
Ashanti Palmer from Washington did what most of us deem impossible. She’s been present for every single school day since Pre-k. That’s, give or take, 17 years.
Here most of us are, struggling to even get perfect attendance for one school year.
https://www.facebook.com/USAHeadlineNewsGroup/posts/994111867709800
Meanwhile, Ashanti sits upon her throne of perfect attendance and laughs at our weakness.
Jokes aside, taking a day or two off because you’re sick, injured or not mentally in the best place is normal. It happens to the best of us, and it’s almost definitely happened to Ashanti too.
https://www.facebook.com/336265146446001/photos/a.537733666299147/4263037777102032/?__tn__=%2CO*F
Her perfect record doesn’t mean she’s never been sick or depressed. The takeaway point is how it speaks volumes about her persistence and drive, and it’s nothing short of inspiring.
A spectacular achievement like that deserves recognition of the same caliber, and good thing she got just that.
That flawless attendance, in addition to her likely just being a great student on her own, helped her rack up $430,000 dollars in scholarships. She’s putting that into pursuing a biomedical engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for another 4 years. You go, girl!
Ashanti Palmer is leaving high school with a 99.08 average. She's been accepted to 18 colleges and awarded over $430,000 in scholarships, and hasn't missed school since pre-K. https://t.co/DG6hjtAbtZ
— ABC News (@ABC) June 26, 2020
Even more amazingly, Palmer wasn’t even actively setting perfect attendance as her goal. She’d just unknowingly never missed a day, realized this in 10th grade, and sought to keep the streak going.
Her school’s superintendent, Kenneth R. Hamilton, appropriately summed it up in this one sentence.
Ashanti Palmer not only graduated from high school as class valedictorian but also with perfect attendance. https://t.co/hM0n4CRfeK
— Atlanta News First (@ATLNewsFirst) June 26, 2020
“Ashanti’s achievements in the Mount Vernon schools have been nothing short of remarkable”.
As one of the school’s authoritative figures, Mr. Hamilton was a firsthand witness to Palmer’s feat. He’s got way more reason than most of us to be impressed.
“We strive to ensure our students graduate from here college- and career-ready, and Ashanti is a testament to that goal.” – Hamilton continued.
OUTSTANDING: Ashanti Palmer is graduating as the valedictorian of her class. Not only that, she has achieved perfect attendance her entire education career — from Pre-K through high school! 👏 https://t.co/XzSsMEwCyy pic.twitter.com/GQZG8L99oI
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) June 23, 2020
Though one wonders what could possibly motivate someone to never miss a day of school, especially for as long as Palmer.
Well, who better to tell us the answer than her?
New day, new scholarship recipient to brag about!
Meet @StThomasLaw student, Ashanti Palmer, who started a foundation to empower and support young women by encouraging them to attend college prep workshops, volunteer in the community, and sponsors their prom night. 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/xoqJcyfNo0
— MDFAWL Foundation (@MDFAWL_F) November 20, 2019
“I’ve never had a bad teacher, my teachers made it easy for me, made me enthusiastic to go to school.”
There’s quite a lot to take away from that statement. We’ve all had that one dreadful teacher who just made us loathe a subject, haven’t we? Seems as though making us want to go to school is a huge factor, isn’t it?
Mean and unpleasant teachers exist, that’s just the truth.
They may be exception and not the norm, but boy is it the worst when you end up with one.
Congrats #STULaw students Ashanti Palmer (2nd from left) and Morgan Levine (far left) who were awarded the @MDFAWL #scholarship presented at the Women Making History and Scholarship Awards Presentation in Miami. pic.twitter.com/A8V4iOzjD1
— STU Benjamin L. Crump College of Law (@StThomasLaw) May 1, 2019
Here’s hoping more than a few such teachers heard Ms. Palmer’s words.
Ms. Palmer was fortunate enough to not have any such people overseeing her in the classroom. Learning is supposed to be fun, after all. Her consistent and perfect attendance of classes thanks to her teachers sells that point really well.
She went on to speak about her triumphant feat during a press release.
“Being named valedictorian feels good because it shows that all the hard work I’ve put in over the years has paid off, and that effort is being celebrated in a big way.”
But she wasn’t lacking in self-awareness. Ashanti didn’t hesitate to acknowledge how big of a role circumstances and help can play.
The valedictorian went on to say that her achievement was news worthy for a reason – it ain’t exactly the kind of thing students should be expected to do. With her wording as clear as possible, she highlighted that comparing your progress to someone else is a recipe for killing confidence.
“When you compare your achievements to someone else’s you’re only creating an envious atmosphere for yourself, and growth cannot happen in one.”
This valedictorian’s feat is prime motivation material, as are her words of advice for people walking similar paths.
You may not be able to get a perfect attendance streak quite like Ashanti’s, but what you can do is your best.
Do you think you know someone who might need to hear some of these words of success? Then tap that share button and give them something to read!
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Source: [ABC news 7 NY, CNN, Mount Vernon City School district]