Striving to be her school’s top student was a dream for Trinity Christian School’s 2017 valedictorian Lauren McNure.

    “I had certain goals and one was to get good grades and become valedictorian,” she said. “Trinity is very academic-based, so you had to work hard to get the grades.”

    But she did, and achieved her goal.

    The daughter of Mike McNure and Beth McNure, she has one sister, Haley. Lauren expects to attend Georgia Southern University this fall, and plans to get a bachelor’s degree in biology before attending the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.

    She loves animals and always dreamed of working with exotic animals at zoos, such as elephants and giraffes, but said she realizes becoming a small animal veterinarian may be a choice as well. She has two cats and a dog.

    Lauren loves to sing and was a member of the Statesboro Youth Chorale as well as her school choir. She enjoys attending summer camps where she worked with younger children.

    Her words of advice for other students still in school are “Stick with it. School can get so tiring, so frustrating. I wanted sometimes to give up, there was so much to juggle. Just do your best and don’t give up.”