This graduation season, many students about to walk the aisle would thank their parents and family for their support and encouragement.
For Tiyana Lawrence, Lucy C. Laney Comprehensive High School valedictorian of the class of 2023, the milestone holds a special significance. She praises her grandmother, who passed away last year, for inspiring her toward her academic success.
“She always wanted the best for me,” said Lawrence, whose hard work was motivated by her grandmother’s memory. “I’ve always been doing that for her, and it keeps her alive today.”
Lawrence, who’s also captain of Laney’s dance team, is an avid reader — poetry, romance and graphic novels, particularly — and credits educators such as language arts teachers Amanda Corley-Holmes and Trulana Hines for encouraging her appreciating of literature, and science teacher Byron Willingham for kindling her interest in biology and physics.
After high school, Lawrence is planning to attend Savannah State University to study business administration, to pursue her ambition to start a clothing brand.
“I’ve been into making clothes since seventh grade,” she said. “Now I think I’m ready to push for more, and start my own business.”
When she addresses her classmates at Laney High’s graduation ceremony on Thursday, Lawrence will speak on the unexpected turns in the four years she shared with the class of 2023.
“Life doesn’t fit the outcome that you want,” Lawrence said. “But it’s chosen the path that you need.”
Amari Lampkin, Lucy C. Laney High’s salutatorian for this year, attributes her parents for prioritizing education.
Her favorite subject is math, a trait she might’ve picked up from her father, an engineer.
“If I needed help, I would go to him, and we would go through the problems together,” said Lampkin. “Math just stuck with me. I like numbers.”
Lampkin has a formidable list of extracurricular activities under her belt, including participating in SkillsUSA, the Math Competition, the school’s Laney P.E.A.R.L.S and cheerleading all four years.
She’ll begin studies at Kennesaw State University in the fall, majoring in nursing. Lampkin knows she’d like to enter the medical field, but she’s yet to decide whether to be a traveling nurse, a pediatrician or an OB/GYN.
“I’m trying to do some internships; hopefully I’ll be able to just pick one,” Lampkin said. “I’m leaning more towards the pediatrician, because I do love kids, and I see myself actually being able to help kids; but I just want to go to medical school.”
Lampkin has affection for all of her teachers, offering “shout-outs” to Corley-Holmes and Willingham, of course her math teacher Tiana Myers as well as social studies instructor Alicia Carroll and history teacher Tina McGee.
The message of her salutatorian speech, said Lampkin, will be one of congratulations for her classmates.
“It’s just to let them know that I’m proud of each and every one of them, and I’m waiting to see their successes,” she said.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
