As the 2022-2023 school year is coming to an end, the class of 2023’s valedictorian was announced at Spring Valley High School. Satik Basambekyan is this year’s valedictorian, she has not only worked very hard for her position, but also kept her motivations going throughout her rigorous years of high school.

Being able to be recognized as a valedictorian is a big accomplishment. It not only represents your work ethic, but also the way you plan to carve out your future. It also displays the individual’s intellectual status and their passions about their education.

Being valedictorian is not something easy to accomplish, it takes a lot of dedication and studying to get to the number one rank and keep it up throughout all four years of high school.

“Honestly, I feel really accomplished as this year’s valedictorian and I just want to say that I have worked extremely hard to reach this position,” valedictorian Satik Basambekyan said. “I don’t regret anything that I did; I have spent countless hours doing homework, studying, preparing for exams and it was all worth it considering where I am now.”

Additionally, Basamebekyan takes a class called Model United Nations (MUN), which Angelica Strong teaches. It is a class where students debate at various different conferences all held at different levels. For example, here at Spring Valley High School, there is an annual conference called Las Vegas Model United Nations (LVMUN) that students from all over the valley attend.

Strong is very fond and grateful to have Basambekyan as a student throughout these past four years. She thinks that with the noteworthy accomplishments Basamebkyan has had in MUN, she is very worthy of being the class of 2023’s valedictorian.

“Sandy has shown the ability to think critically about the different situations occurring around the world and understand how they impact not only that region but the world,” MUN advisor Angelica Strong said.

Furthermore, the competition amongst students competing for being a valedictorian is very intense and it really encourages students to test their limits and challenge themselves throughout their educational lives.

“Sophomore year was when I realized that I was ranked number one out of our class and I took every opportunity I could to make sure that I didn’t lose my spot,” Basambekyan said. “I took every AP class, every honors class, just to make sure that I would stay ranked number one.”

Even though Basambekyan has done rigorous amounts of work to be able to uphold her position, she also acquired very important skills throughout the course of MUN.

“She has good time management,” Strong said. “She understands that she’s busy and needs to set deadlines for herself in order to accomplish her student goals.”

Meanwhile, with great achievements comes great challenges which did take a big toll on Basambekyan. She did struggle greatly within her mathematics classes and being in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program didn’t help her situation out much. Though she did spend a lot of time after school going in for tutoring to help alleviate her struggles. 

“Some of my motivations to keep trying hard in school and to reach the position that I am in right now included some wise words from my mom,” Basambekyan said. “She always told me that “knowledge is power” and that education was the only way to help alleviate my current situation.”

However, Basambekyan didn’t only want to be known for her academics. While maintaining good grades and class rank, she also maintained good friendships with her peers. Basambekyan has also proved that she is worthy of being this year’s valedictorian because of the high levels of leadership she has shown. 

“Sandy always wants to help others,” Strong said. “She has shown this through the lessons she has led in global politics to help other students understand. To take that on shows she’s a remarkable individual.”

As the school year’s progress the challenge for becoming a valedictorian is getting intense. It can have both negative and positive impacts on students. On one hand it will give you that advantage of being recognized by others, but on the other hand other people can easily interfere with your success as a student.

“My biggest piece of advice to future valedictorian runner-ups is to just be yourself,” Basambekyan said. “Don’t lose yourself trying to reach an aspiration so high that it causes you to miss out on your social life, family time, or to the point that it affects your mental health. I strongly urge future runner-ups to avoid competition with classmates and to keep your success private by working silently.”