TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time in recent history, one Hillsborough County high school had co-valedictorians.
Two students at Gaither High School tied, both with 7.36 GPAs, and it didn’t happen by accident.
Music is what first brought them together. Sara Fernandez and Michelle Poveda met at band camp during their freshman year of high school.
“At first, she just seemed like a really shy girl to me, so I didn’t know who she was, but then she told me she was Colombian, and I’m also Colombian, so we bonded immediately,” said Poveda.
The rest is history — they’ve been best friends ever since. Recently, they even shared the role of section leader in Gaither High School’s band.
“It was a huge responsibility, but sharing it and cooperating in that and balancing that leadership role together was great for both of us,” said Fernandez.
Sharing that role was just the beginning. They also shared the same interests at school, and many of the same classes, which led to a realization about the valedictorian.
“At some point in our junior year, we realized we were most likely going to end up in the top few, and we were like, ‘How cool would it be if we were to tie?’ So, we pretty much planned our last classes strategically to tie in the end,” said Poveda.
Fernandez admits, being shy, she wasn’t immediately sold on taking the stage to give the valedictorian speech alone, but she knew, if Poveda was up there with her, “I was like, OK, we’ll do this, but only if you’re in it with me, so then we did it,” she said.
With Fernandez planning on attending Duke University in the fall, and Poveda planning on attending the University of South Florida (USF), they say this is a memory they can look back on when the distance feels far, and know they’ll be friends forever.