General Discussion

MineralMan

(151,563 posts)

94. Well, five years from now, nobody's going to give a damn,

Mon Jul 3, 2017, 02:26 PM

Jul 2017

one way or the other. If a person's education ended with high school, as it does for many people, it might matter, but I don't know anyone who is a valedictorian in high school who doesn't go on with their education. So, what happens next is far more important, really. Now, if this young woman manages to become valedictorian of her college or university class, given the tougher competition, that will be a true honor. But even that will soon pass and her success will be based on what she does after that.

Academic awards are short-term honors. There's always a next phase in life. My co-valedictorian went on to become a neurosurgeon. I went on to be a successful magazine journalist and something of a ne'er-do-well at the same time. That was my choice, and I'm very pleased with the course of my life, now that I'm almost 72 years old. So is my co-valedictorian. We saw each other again at our class's 50th reunion, for the first time in 50 years, and both of us appear to have achieved the goals we set for ourselves and are content. She was still the charming, bright person I knew all those years ago.

I couldn't ask for a better outcome.

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Black Mississippi student forced to share valedictorian title with white student who had lower GPA [View all] RandySF Jul 2017 OP

for all the complaints about welfare queens from the racists. they get more angry at seeing black JI7 Jul 2017 #1

Yep. dalton99a Jul 2017 #11

Yes. This. Thank you! NurseJackie Jul 2017 #27

Tht's why they despised Barack Obama so much. Foamfollower Jul 2017 #29

BOOM! Sometimes the simplest things like a Black man being everything racists says he should be Blue_true Jul 2017 #32

+ a zillion lunasun Jul 2017 #59

But we really don't know that's true. All we know is that there is a mother who claims pnwmom Jul 2017 #82

+1,000!!! Exactly!!! AgadorSparticus Jul 2017 #89

I went into the FB page the mother set up and I'm not so sure. pnwmom Jul 2017 #2

I wonder if the mother knows about weighted / AP classes, too. X_Digger Jul 2017 #3

That thought occurred to me, too. And how humiliating this must be to her daughter. nt pnwmom Jul 2017 #4

Every single class my child takes is weighted. xmas74 Jul 2017 #6

That's why abolishing GPA is discussed BadgerKid Jul 2017 #20

Absolutely. xmas74 Jul 2017 #131

If you have a kid who is running a 3.95 GPA, why complain. Blue_true Jul 2017 #38

Her problem is that there are some xmas74 Jul 2017 #130

Lucky kid. Why don't you have her look for scholarships that target her major. Blue_true Jul 2017 #142

Her planned major is public relations, xmas74 Jul 2017 #145

Seems like she has a plan. nt Blue_true Jul 2017 #146

Yep. xmas74 Jul 2017 #149

Good job of parenting. I had both of my parents to adulthood and beyond. Blue_true Jul 2017 #151

I'll be happy when xmas74 Jul 2017 #154

Back in the day, it wasn't like that so they may not "get" it. sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #8

My daughters' high school did not weigh classes exboyfil Jul 2017 #10

Is engineering university IaState? bobbieinok Jul 2017 #102

Yes exboyfil Jul 2017 #112

And a beautiful campus! bobbieinok Jul 2017 #137

really?.... bluecollar2 Jul 2017 #113

"she appears to be fighting the school district on many different fronts" left-of-center2012 Jul 2017 #28

As a kid who had to fight a school district on several fronts, I have sympathy. politicat Jul 2017 #143

This can be solved by simply releasing the GPAs. It's raises doubt that that hasn't been done. brush Jul 2017 #45

And yet, DU sides w/ the authority and starts to drag the mother/student. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #53

No, I'm siding with sanity. The idea that this mother was scrutinizing every grade this other girl pnwmom Jul 2017 #71

WOW, a scholarly equal to the Texas cheerleader mom...sans the murder. angstlessk Jul 2017 #77

Your experiences don't fucking matter. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #80

People are saying this happens in small schools. In that case my experience is relevant pnwmom Jul 2017 #84

I went to a small school as well and yes, those of us aiming for the top spot SaschaHM Jul 2017 #85

When was that? Baconator Jul 2017 #135

Yup. We had IB (6.0) and AP (5.0) courses that were weighted more. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #138

I will use this as an example of what might not xmas74 Jul 2017 #139

As far as I know, schools aren't allowed to release GPAs of their students because of privacy laws. LisaL Jul 2017 #101

Certainly the problem can be solved privately to determine the valedictorian brush Jul 2017 #107

So disappointed with so many on DU siding with a school district that as recently... brush Jul 2017 #115

My issue with it is we really don't know xmas74 Jul 2017 #132

Which is my point, but so many here just automatically assume the black student... brush Jul 2017 #136

The claim is that the GPA is the same sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #5

The complaining family seems way too obsessed with the other girl's grades, it seems to me. pnwmom Jul 2017 #15

It sounds like they were friends sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #56

I had 35 in my graduating class. We didn't do that. pnwmom Jul 2017 #70

My high school counted up until the second to last semester to determine honors. Blue_true Jul 2017 #40

Ok, but what does that have to do with the case of who is valedictorian? brush Jul 2017 #46

The kid did well in high school. That only means so much. Blue_true Jul 2017 #57

Ok, but the black student feels she was cheated out of being sole valedictorian brush Jul 2017 #62

You view on this clearly isn't the same as mine. Blue_true Jul 2017 #65

Why doesn't the school prove it was a tie? That's easy to do. brush Jul 2017 #69

But the idea that this mother has been keeping track of another girl's EVERY grade since middle pnwmom Jul 2017 #87

the white girl could have got a B in the last semester sarah FAILIN Jul 2017 #58

Or either one of the girls might have fudged the truth at some point along the way pnwmom Jul 2017 #72

The school district claims they were tied exboyfil Jul 2017 #7

My district only took GPA back three decimal points. Blue_true Jul 2017 #43

Hard to be proud when you feel discriminated against. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #49

Where is the discrimination? MichMan Jul 2017 #63

Is this a serious question? SaschaHM Jul 2017 #66

Should the other student have it taken away after over a year has passed? MichMan Jul 2017 #99

You don't get to co-opt awards because they are given to black people. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #108

There is no evidence that this happened -- just the mother's suspicions based on other pnwmom Jul 2017 #117

"only"? That's kind of ridiculous when most non-math grades are so subjective. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #116

My old school did the same. xmas74 Jul 2017 #140

I get where the mom is coming from. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #9

It still wouldn't be clear because you wouldn't know what all her grades were in every class. pnwmom Jul 2017 #16

Never share grades with others? Seriously? n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #22

Seriously. My oldest had a number of ways of dodging the question, pnwmom Jul 2017 #24

Yes, seriously. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #34

My god is this hilarious. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #35

Laughter is one of the best things in the world. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #39

No doubt, you'll explain what this sentiment is predicated on LanternWaste Jul 2017 #44

Yes! I hadn't thought of it that way, but it is similar. There is no upside to sharing grades, pnwmom Jul 2017 #90

"But then you have to also accept public failures." NCTraveler Jul 2017 #114

It's never too early to teach your kids to have boundaries and enforce them. It's no one else's bettyellen Jul 2017 #61

I was taught never to share that information. xmas74 Jul 2017 #133

You don't need to know all her grades though if her daugher is a straight A student ... SaschaHM Jul 2017 #25

Not all districts weight grades and the mom didn't mention anything about that. It seems that she pnwmom Jul 2017 #118

Also in MS -- the Sgent Jul 2017 #12

Nooo, cons aren't racist .. WTF? Hieronymus Jul 2017 #13

The takeaway really depends on who you believe. Igel Jul 2017 #14

This mother claims to know every grade the other girl has ever received in high school. pnwmom Jul 2017 #17

She doesn't claim to know that. She claims to know the schedule. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #26

If that is the case, then it should have been in the filing exboyfil Jul 2017 #54

Not all schools use weighting in determining GPA, and the mom didn't mention that. nt pnwmom Jul 2017 #120

IF the young woman was the kindest...she would have told the malaise Jul 2017 #18

Top of the Class is a major honor, regardless of whether it is shared. nt Blue_true Jul 2017 #47

How would she know? exboyfil Jul 2017 #55

Why should she have if their GPA's were the same? As the district says. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #121

I'm sceptical that she knows the other girls grades enough to fully calculate the GPA Lee-Lee Jul 2017 #19

She'd have been pestering her daughter to pester her friend about her grades pnwmom Jul 2017 #119

Deja vu Not Ruth Jul 2017 #21

Valedictorian is just another silly "contest" that is way overrated. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #23

Complete and utter falsehood. Foamfollower Jul 2017 #30

There is a LOT more that goes into it. Read more. n/t USALiberal Jul 2017 #33

There are MANY more advantages to being valedictorian than college admissions Foamfollower Jul 2017 #42

Such advantages are short-lived, transitory things. MineralMan Jul 2017 #83

BALONEY! Foamfollower Jul 2017 #105

But Princeton doesn't accept people based on GPA alone. They OFTEN accept people pnwmom Jul 2017 #122

Silly contest that can get the student xmas74 Jul 2017 #134

No college would NOT give an award to one of two valedictorians that would be awarded pnwmom Jul 2017 #153

Exactly. xmas74 Jul 2017 #155

Valedictorian title isn't a fucking peewee T-ball game. DK504 Jul 2017 #31

Way back in 1963, at my high school, which had a senior MineralMan Jul 2017 #36

It's hard to laugh something off when you feel you are being denied because you are a black woman. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #41

Being valedictorian or co-valedictorian is a great honor. MineralMan Jul 2017 #48

A claim for which they have presented exactly zero evidence. mythology Jul 2017 #51

Well, that's fine for you. SaschaHM Jul 2017 #52

Grades aren't public so the mother has no real evidence to rely on. Just her daughter's reports pnwmom Jul 2017 #74

And you both knew that being a co-valedictorian was just as special -- or not -- as being pnwmom Jul 2017 #73

I'm sure my parents thought it was an honor. MineralMan Jul 2017 #78

This girl graduated a year ago and her mother is still obsessing. Poor girl. n/t pnwmom Jul 2017 #79

Well, yes. I went to that facebook page, and saw MineralMan Jul 2017 #86

Right. It's supposedly her daughter's page, but it's all about the mother. pnwmom Jul 2017 #88

Well, five years from now, nobody's going to give a damn, MineralMan Jul 2017 #94

Right. And even college grades don't matter much, unless you are applying to grad school. pnwmom Jul 2017 #98

This sounds strange all the way around. NCTraveler Jul 2017 #37

My daughter was set to be valedictorian at her HS graduation. (class of 500) panader0 Jul 2017 #50

The school says the GPA was identical for both. Which is correct? Honeycombe8 Jul 2017 #60

I guess that's what the lawsuit is supposed to determine. MineralMan Jul 2017 #64

I will be interested to see what the facts are once they come out. I am inclined to believe the stevenleser Jul 2017 #67

Did you look at the web page the mom set up? It made me disinclined. pnwmom Jul 2017 #75

I hear you. The fact that the school (or district?) lost civil rights rulings swung it the other way stevenleser Jul 2017 #76

It blows my mind that folks here are quick to say that the mother is lying... SaschaHM Jul 2017 #81

I'm not saying she is lying. I'm saying she may be misinformed -- that it would be very unlikely pnwmom Jul 2017 #92

As more facts come out, we'll see, mountain grammy Jul 2017 #96

Headline is a lie oberliner Jul 2017 #68

You don't know if it's frivolous. You only know that the school district which fought... brush Jul 2017 #123

True - that part was just my opinion oberliner Jul 2017 #125

I was initially sympathetic to the mother. pnwmom Jul 2017 #144

You seem to be siding with the district. A district with a history of racial discrimination. brush Jul 2017 #147

Because I don't think the mother is credible. If the district was in the wrong, I think pnwmom Jul 2017 #148

I just don't get why you're favoring a racist district. Your dislike of the mother... brush Jul 2017 #150

I don't like narcissistic parents, and this mother appears to fall into that category. pnwmom Jul 2017 #152

Why do you care? It would matter to me if I was cheated out of that honor. brush Jul 2017 #156

Why do you care? pnwmom Jul 2017 #157

I care because I'm AA and don't like to see our accomplishments diminished brush Jul 2017 #158

Not so much a lie as CLICKBAIT. Dr. Strange Jul 2017 #128

Yep oberliner Jul 2017 #129

This was dirty pool. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #91

You think it's likely that this mother actually knows every grade the other girl has gotten pnwmom Jul 2017 #93

They have a lawsuit in play, so that might become relevant information that Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #95

What first made me wonder about this mother was looking at the website the mother set up pnwmom Jul 2017 #97

Breaking down walls is a task that is not for everyone. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #100

Is that what you call grade-stalking another student since middle school? That really doesn't seem pnwmom Jul 2017 #103

You assume that grades were not shared as a common exchange in conversation? Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #104

Of course I didn't assume that. I knew they were, and I didn't think that was helpful. pnwmom Jul 2017 #106

And I think that's great parenting. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #109

Right -- slips can happen, even if someone is trying to be circumspect. pnwmom Jul 2017 #110

I wouldn't be surprised. We live in a very competitive world. Baitball Blogger Jul 2017 #111

Probably but xmas74 Jul 2017 #141

I knew the headline was too good to be true. ileus Jul 2017 #124

Living in the south, I am not surprised by this Gothmog Jul 2017 #126

But digging deeper it turns out the mother is providing no evidence for her suspicions pnwmom Jul 2017 #127