Congratulations to the Salutatorian of the Prairie Ridge Class of 2012, Colleen Miller! While she is thankful for the honor and sense of accomplishment that comes with the title, Colleen doesn’t feel like it has “changed anything about who [she is] or how [she] act[s], it just is a representation of the hard work [she] put into high school.” Times came when it was difficult to balance school, activities, and a social life, but overall Colleen found a way to juggle hanging out with friends and staying on top of her schoolwork.

Colleen’s advice to those striving to excel academically is to find the perfect balance between school and fun. “If you focus too heavily on the school work, you won’t enjoy your experience in high school and if you don’t spend enough time on your work, you won’t be able to stay on top of things in all your classes.” Another piece of advice she has is to take a manageable amount of AP and Honors courses; too many can get overwhelming and can actually hurt more than help a student.

The title of Salutatorian is a great honor, but how much does it actually mean? Colleen believes that the title does not mean as much as some make it seem. She does agree, that “yes, it means that I’ve had good grades throughout high school, but I don’t feel that it’s a measure of intelligence or how much I’ve learned.” She feels like it recognizes those who certainly put in a good amount of effort to get that high GPA, but it also “ignores those who are extremely intelligent and those who have tried so hard in school but maybe didn’t receive the grades necessary to be at the top of the class.”
Nevertheless, Colleen’s hard work has certainly paid off, and she now has the opportunity to be recognized for her accomplishment. She will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall where she will probably go into something math or business-related. Congrats, Colleen!