THE CAVALIER
bigger CVC g raduates re achi ng ne w heights sha re secrets to the i r achie vement s Written By Marissa Carpenter Director of Marketing and Enrollment
From my office window I can see the kindergarten students leave their classrooms at the end of each day. Their energy, even still at 3 p.m., causes a verse from Malachi 4 to pop into my head, “...You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” I wonder if the same is true for high school seniors as they step off the graduation platform, move their tassel over and watch for family members in the crowds at commencement. Maybe no one leapt off the stage, but you can bet summertime feels like a kind of freedom after four years of high school. Additionally, and more importantly, graduating from Central Valley Christian High School means making room for growing up and going on to bigger things! For 2016 CVC graduate and salutatorian Sara Valceschini, graduating gives her the opportunity
to attend Weber Honors College at San Diego State University. She plans to major in Marketing and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on the Spanish language. Her eventual goal is to become an international marketer for global business. The 2016 Salutatorian also noted that CVC math teacher Mr. Byrd has been a great influence on her during high school. He taught her to continue to strive for her goals and learn from her mistakes. Sara’s tip to freshmen: “Do the best you can in all that you do. Make sure to enjoy yourself along the way. When you work toward a specific goal, trust that God will lead you to what is right. Make every opportunity count because, in the end, everything will come together for good. Mr. Byrd also helped shape CVC’s 2016
co-valedictorian Bailey Gong’s CVC experience. Bailey said of the veteran teacher, “I learned from [Mr. Byrd] the relevance of God in every aspect of life, including seemingly secular subjects such as mathematics. Perhaps the greatest thing he taught me was how to strive for excellence — not to the standard of everybody else, but to the standard to which Christ calls his followers, that is, perfection.” Bailey is heading to Fresno State University for college and plans to major in Food Science, but is also considering music, business or chemistry as a course of study. His goal is to someday work in food science — processing new food products or working with dairy products. Bailey’s parting words of advice to freshmen: “Don’t stress out. If there is something one can control, such 15