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10A | THEPRESS.NET EDUCATION MAY 9, 2008
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Freedom valedictorian mixes it up
by Ruth Roberts
Staff Writer
The fi rst thing to know about Caroline
Grant is that she’s Freedom High School’s
valedictorian for 2008. The second thing:
the academic wiz kid is much more than
the sum of her parts.
“I enjoy school; I always have,” said
Caroline, 17. “But I’m involved in a lot of
other things like clubs and my church. I
have down time like anyone else … I like the
movies and reading and hanging out with
my friends. Just the regular stuff.”
Sitting in her cozy Oakley home, surrounded
by family treasures and mementos,
the polite young woman with the soft brown
eyes says being awarded the school’s highest
academic honor is, well, quite an honor.
“I’m not even sure what to say about
it,” said Caroline. “It is something I’m very
proud of and something I’ve worked hard
for. Was I surprised? Yes, I defi nitely was.”
Surprised, perhaps, but not totally
shocked. With a 4.2 weighted GPA and a
scholarship to the University of the Pacifi c
(UOP) in the fall, Caroline admits that a
few years ago she began to sense that her
academic achievements might be above
average.
“I think it was around my junior year
that I started to see the possibility of being
valedictorian,” she said. “So I kind of kept
going with it. I have always been focused
and my parents helped me to be organized,
Photo by Ruth Roberts
Caroline Grant, headed for the
University of the Pacifi c in the
fall, is Freedom High School’s 2008
valedictorian.
and that helped.”
When asked if she felt any pressure
from her family to keep her grades up, she
smiled quickly and said, “Sure, every parent
pushes their child, but mine did it in
a good and loving way. If I ever felt any
pressure, I had lots of people to talk to
and other things to distract me. I’m pretty
grounded.”
Her mother, Karen, agrees.
“Of course it’s wonderful (being chosen
valedictorian), but I don’t feel like we
had a lot to do with it,” she said. “Caroline
has always worked hard. She was never the
kind of child that we had to stay on to make
sure she was getting things done. We’re very
proud of her, but a little weepy, too. It’s hard
when the last (child) one leaves home.”
Caroline’s choice of undergraduate
school was at least partially family-based.
Two of her four siblings have attended
UOP, located in Stockton, and one brother
will still be on campus when she arrives in
August. That, coupled with an interest in
bio-engineering, for which the school has
a stellar reputation, made the campus an
obvious choice.
Not that she didn’t have other options.
Caroline applied to and was accepted at
UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara
and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).
“UOP just seemed like the best place
for me. Maybe I’ll get a doctorate from
Berkeley someday,” she smiled.
With an eye to the future, Caroline said
she sees herself working at a research facility
one day, but for now, she’s focusing on the
end of school and the arrival of summer.
“I am excited about the summer,” she
said. “My brother is getting married and I
hope to take a few trips, have a little down
time before I have to get to school. It’s an
exciting time, the future is full of possibilities
… But right now, I have to study for a
calculus test tomorrow.”
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