Othello valedictorian reflects on years in school

OTHELLO — This past Friday, Georgia Bunch walked across the stage and became a graduate of Othello High School. The senior has spent her entire educational life in the Othello School District and graduated as valedictorian.

“I’ve been working hard for the past four years,” Bunch said. “I’ve been taking extra classes, hard classes. Being valedictorian makes me feel recognized for that.”

Bunch said that her favorite teacher from elementary school was Mrs. Deasy, her first-grade teacher.

“She is a family friend,” Bunch said. “She still checks in on me even though I’m not in first grade. She was a really warm and friendly person. It was really important to have her as such a really young student. I felt loved. She made me have a positive relationship with school.”

In high school, Bunch signed up for an AP environmental science class with Mr. Vasquez as a way to challenge herself. It turned out to be her favorite class at OHS.

“He expected us to do things on our own,” Bunch said. “I felt more like an equal than a student in that class. The material was very interesting. It was more about how he presented it to us and how he taught us.”

She also appreciated her middle school teacher Dr. Couch and high school teachers Mr. Rocha and Mrs. Lewis.

During high school, Bunch participated in cross country, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and National Honor Society. She also helped start a mental health club at OHS, called Giving Peer Support or GPS.

Bunch and others noticed that the conversations around mental health were mainly teacher to student.

“They were coming from adults that the students didn’t have a relationship with,” Bunch said.

The group trained students to have conversations about mental health with their peers, so the students feel connected to the people giving them mental health messages.

Bunch said that she learned about perseverance through cross country and her coach, Mr. Guevara.

“I’m not a very athletic person,” Bunch said. “He pushed me to still compete at a varsity level.”

Bunch said that for most of her life, she tended to give up and quit on things she isn’t good at. In cross country, Bunch was challenged to keep pushing.

“School is something I’m good at,” Bunch said. “I decided to branch out in high school. I was freaking out. Coach made me realize it was OK to not be good at something. I will get better if I keep practicing.”

Those lessons in perseverance helped Bunch as she navigated finishing high school during the COVID-19 shutdown. Bunch, a visual person, found online learning to be a challenge.

“It forced me to put more effort into school than I usually have to,” Bunch said. “I think what I learned in cross country helped me. Even if I’m not naturally good at learning online, I pushed through and am still better than I naturally would have been.”

In her valedictorian speech, Bunch talked about how high school has taught the seniors how to overcome challenges.

“We can get through the current challenge with the pandemic and challenges throughout the rest of our lives,” Bunch said.

As Bunch heads off to the University of Washington this fall as a pre-med student, she may have to put into practice the lessons she has been learning, if her classes are online.

“I think I’ll take a lighter course load if I’m doing online classes,” Bunch said. “I need to focus on my class load.”

As she leaves Othello, Bunch said she will miss the relationships she has built with her peers and teachers.

“I’m not going to the same colleges as my peers,” Bunch said. “I’m going to miss them a lot.”

Bunch expressed her appreciation to the community of Othello for all the support it gave the senior students this year.

“It has been difficult having our senior year taken away out of nowhere,” Bunch said. “The community has been supporting us. I’m not going to forget it (senior year), and I view it in a positive way.”

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].