Best In Class

           The author’s argument that high school students are pressured to be number one in their class and to be the valedictorian is correct. Throughout the four years students are in high school teachers and parents put a lot of emphasis on their children or pupils to strive to be in the top ten percent. This puts a whole lot of pressure on the students because they have to be competitive and waste their time trying to claim a spot in this percentile. Sometimes they used dishonest means to get to their position in the top ten percent.

It is said that if you make it into top ten percent then you have a guaranteed spot into any college you want. This statement isn’t necessarily true because you have to actually want to succeed and be able to work hard. A lot of people who were once in top ten admitted they came by it by cheating on homework, quizzes and exams. This means they didn’t truly strive by honest means and used illegal ways to make it the top.  You should make yourself want to strive on your own so you can make your way through life on your own.

For example, 80% of the country's best students cheated to get to the top of their class. Today seventy-five to ninety-eight percent of college students say that they have used cheating in high school at least once. Most cheaters are getting one hundreds on their test while the people that are not cheating are getting nineties. This isn’t right that the people that do actually work hard are left behind while the people that breeze through and take the easy way out by cheating make it into to the top of the class. These cheaters are recognized as the most intelligent in their class even if it isn’t spoken allowed it is implied to all.

The valedictorian place is a great honor to be and everyone should be told the ground rules involved to be chosen as one. There shouldn’t be any unfair advantages because everyone should know what it takes to be a valedictorian. Everyone should be good sports about not being picked to be one and betrayal shouldn’t be even mentioned. Yes, it is wonderful to be the valedictorian because you get to congratulate the graduates on their success and you get to bid them farewell on their way to the rest of their lives.

            The statement that the honor of being a valedictorian should be able to go to the person who isn’t the smartest but the greatest at dealing with competitions pertaining to academics is both true and false because if you actually are very intelligent you should be able to be the valedictorian. The place for valedictorian should be open for anyone who wants to try obtaining the position as one. Not all intellects can handle friendly competition and sometimes the competition can use underhanded methods to position them in the place of the valedictorian.