As the 2024-25 school year comes to an end, a new chapter begins. Seniors Meredith Mcbeth, Paige Rutland and Loretta Hodges concluded this school year as the top three ranked graduating seniors.
McBeth said she felt relieved yet nervous when she learned she was valedictorian.
“This accomplishment was always a dream of mine but it never really felt real until it was!” McBeth said.
McBeth achieved this level of academic excellence by putting in extra work and having support from her friends and family. Her biggest piece of advice is to not slack off during freshman year and to make sure students take the classes necessary to boost their GPA.
“When you know the person you want to be or the goals you want to achieve, you are done with the hard part,” McBeth said.
During McBeth’s high school journey, she took on difficult classes and learned not to have any regrets. She said the lessons she learned have shaped her into the person she is today.
“If you want to be bold and try something, do it,” McBeth said. “There will always be a Negative Nelly routing against you, but you always have the opportunity to be a Positive Polly.”
McBeth said every teacher and faculty member in LISD has impacted her whether they know it or not, especially Chemistry teacher Carl Gehring. He taught her that life doesn’t give a warning shot, so either fight back or give up.
“High school is tough, but you need to embrace the tough,” McBeth said. “You will figure out what it means to fail in all aspects of life but that’s the joy of life. At the end of the day, it is what you make it to be!”
McBeth plans to attend Texas A&M University to major in Biomedical sciences.
“I plan to return to Lampasas to practice medicine and serve my community as a Family Medicine Doctor,” McBeth said.
This year’s salutatorian is Rutland. She put hard work into her schoolwork and dedicated hours of her time to establishing and maintaining her grades.
“The most important thing is to stay on top of your work and don’t let yourself get behind!” Rutland said.
Rutland’s most rewarding moments during her high school journey include when she was told she would graduate as salutatorian, and winning state in Agricultural Communications and other events she competed in. Her coaches and teachers have played a significant role in her development as an individual.
“Coach [Samue] Burnside and Coach Gehring have had the honor of watching me struggle to comprehend their classes and come out with an A,” Rutland said. “Coach [Justin] Schulze, Coach [Abbie] Smith and Mrs. [Judy] Hail have watched me perfect my craft and helped me compete at the highest level.”
Rutland will attend Texas A&M for Animal Science and proceed to obtain her doctorate degree in Occupational therapy at Texas Tech. After this schooling, she will become a Pediatric Occupational therapist.
“Helping children succeed has always been a passion in my life and this career will directly allow me to impact so many children who are struggling,” Rutland said. “This will allow me to acquire both a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate so that I can help a specific need in the community that I have seen over the years.”
Hodges ranked 3rd out of 266 seniors. She felt proud of herself and relieved that the stress of rankings was over.
“It has definitely taken a lot of time and hard work to maintain my GPA throughout high school,” Hodges said. “There were long nights and early mornings that went in to make sure all my assignments were turned in and I was prepared for all my exams. Sometimes all it came down to was putting my head down and just working.”
Hodges said she feels she is a big procrastinator by nature and forcing herself to learn time management was a challenge throughout high school. Her advice is to “come in early, stay late, and ask, ask, ask, questions!”
Overall, Hodges’ high school experience has been rewarding in both her friendships and accomplishments. A big moment for her was making Varsity tennis her sophomore year; this season she brought back six gold medals.
“Another thing that has felt really rewarding to me this year is taking AP Calculus,” Hodges said. “Math is my worst subject and I was really scared going in at the beginning of the year, but I have been doing well so far.”
Hodges had Gehring as her OnRamps Chemistry teacher both sophomore and junior year.
“He is probably the sole reason I survived the chaos of junior year with my grades still intact,” Hodges said. “He always explains things really well and if you are genuinely trying, he will always help you.”
Hodges said Coach [Kenneth] Peiser and Coach [Eric] White have also been great role models throughout her high school years. They taught her discipline, how to put in the hard work, and that sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.
“Coach Peiser always likes to say that ‘Tennis is Life,’ and there really is a lot of truth in that,” Hodges said. “Things like jobs, college applications, scholarships, housing and finances all take attention, teamwork, dedication, humility, consistency, hard work and a little bit of luck sometimes too.”
Hodges plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to major in Pre-Pharmacy. However, she is still exploring various pathways.
“I am looking forward to the experience of college,” Hodges said. “Meeting new people, learning new things, joining clubs and going to games, plays and festivals. Austin is such a vibrant city to say the least and I can’t wait to enjoy all it has to offer.”
