<\/p>\n
As Royal Bay Secondary School prepares to celebrate its graduation class on June 7, four students chosen to represent the Class of 2026 say high school was about more than grades.<\/p>\n
Co-valedictorians Jack Loveless and Arielle Chan, alongside Indigenous co-valedictorians Ava Karlsson and Alana Jay, will deliver speeches reflecting on growth, identity and the friendships formed during their years at the Colwood school.<\/p>\n
For Loveless, being named valedictorian came after a competitive application and voting process that included essays, grade requirements and student-selected finalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to submit an essay detailing why we thought we should be valedictorians,\u201d said Loveless. \u201cThen students voted on who they wanted to represent them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loveless, who plans to attend the University of Waterloo for mechanical engineering, said he hopes to eventually work in aerospace engineering. \u201cI want to get into an aerospace company and build planes or rockets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said his passion for space exploration began when he was younger, and he realized that he wanted to pursue work that could have a lasting impact on the world.<\/p>\n
Chan, who plans to attend the University of British Columbia to study science, said graduation feels both exciting and emotional. \u201cI\u2019m feeling a little bit of pre-emptive sadness about everything being over,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not the end of a chapter, it\u2019s a new beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students said Grade 12 brought more freedom than previous years, with lighter course loads, flexible schedules and more opportunities to focus on personal interests.<\/p>\n
Karlsson spent much of her final year immersed in art and theatre classes after completing most of her academic requirements earlier in high school. \u201cI got lots of time to relax, spend time with my friends and explore a lot of my passions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One of Karlsson\u2019s highlighted movements came during this year\u2019s school musical, where she incorporated Indigenous beadwork into her costume with the support of a teacher. \u201cIt was a really special way for me to incorporate the cultural aspect of my identity and share it with the school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jay, who plans to attend Camosun College in 2027 before entering a plumbing apprenticeship, hopes to eventually take over her family\u2019s business, Little BlueJay Contracting Co. LTD. \u201cMy goal is to become a Red Seal plumber and be a third-generation owner-operator,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Indigenous valedictorians were selected through a separate application process focused on cultural involvement, leadership and community connections. Both students said they were honoured to represent their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very special feeling to be in that spot,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cEverybody who applied brought a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair will first deliver their speech during an Indigenous graduation ceremony on May 25 before speaking again at the school-wide convocation ceremony.<\/p>\n
Jay said combining their different cultural backgrounds into one speech has been meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting to sit down and combine our two different cultures into one speech and share our cultures with the rest of the grad class is amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Karlsson added that language revitalization is also an important part of their message.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a language that you don\u2019t often hear,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to revitalize language and culture and hear these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the students admitted they are nervous about speaking in front of large crowds, they said months of preparation and collaboration have helped build confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit intimidating to feel like you have to represent everyone in the grad class,\u201d Chan said. \u201cI just hope we can make a speech that speaks to most of us in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four students agreed that their biggest takeaway from high school was not academics, but personal growth and the relationships they built along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kind of find who you are during high school,\u201d Karlsson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re this awkward middle schooler, and then suddenly you\u2019re graduating and becoming a young adult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loveless echoed that sentiment, saying high school helped him become more outgoing and confident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn middle school and elementary school, I was a pretty quiet kid,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the last two years, I feel like I\u2019ve opened up a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s graduating class will also mark Royal Bay Secondary\u2019s 10th anniversary, something the valedictorians said makes the occasion even more memorable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very nice school,\u201d Chan said. \u201cI feel very fortunate to have gone here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source goldstreamgazette.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Royal Bay Secondary School prepares to celebrate its graduation class on June 7, four students chosen to represent the Class of 2026 say high school was about more than grades. Co-valedictorians Jack Loveless and Arielle Chan, alongside Indigenous co-valedictorians Ava Karlsson and Alana Jay, will deliver speeches reflecting on growth, identity and the friendships […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2473614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2473613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royal-Bay-valedictorians-reflect-on-growth-before-graduation.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2473613"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2473615,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2473613\/revisions\/2473615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2473614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2473613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2473613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2473613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}