Valerie Matheny will attend Appalachian State University, where she plans to major in biology and live in the Watauga residential college.
Valerie’s favorite classes at Grimsley were French with Madame Greiner and biology with Mrs. Ingram, both of whom were the highlight of her senior year. Their classes were different and unique and inspired her to speak up more than any others; she enjoyed them enough to decide to major in biology and minor in French. Her most memorable moment comes from Mrs. Ingram’s class when Mrs. Ingram tried to kill a bug and failed but made some very weird noises in the process: a class favorite.
Valerie’s favorite Grimsley tradition is senior parking pass day. That day, she woke up at six, thinking she’d be one of the first few people, only to discover students had begun arriving at three in the morning. Though she described the day as long, exhausting, and expository of people’s true colors, she also fondly remembers sitting in random abandoned chairs with her closest friends and hanging out for hours.
Her most notable accomplishments over the past four years include stepping out of her comfort zone to play field hockey her sophomore year, teaching herself lots of crafts, and buying her first horse, Maestro, whom she describes as the light of her life. Though Valerie received a severe concussion after Maestro bucked her off this winter, her perseverance and the considerateness of her teachers enabled her to catch up on her schoolwork. From freshman year to senior year, Valerie is proud to have grown so much as a person.
Valerie is most excited to discover where the world will take her: whether or not she’ll continue to ride horses, whether she’ll be a doctor or a biologist, whether she’ll have a big house or a small one. She invoked Mr. Post: “As Mr. Post loves to brag about, he walked off the Camp Weaver tight rope stand like the philosopher Kierkegaard. I am also embracing that sort of freedom. Let the chips rest where they may.”
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