Carli Cowan didn’t actually think about being valedictorian until a few months ago.

By the second semester of her senior year at Southeast Bulloch High School, she realized she had held the top academic spot for nearly a year. Suddenly, the title wasn't just a wish. It was within reach.

"At that point, it became a goal," Carli said.

She is the 18-year-old daughter of Logan and Kate Cowan of Brooklet. She’s now finished a K-12 journey that started at Brimhall Elementary in Minnesota. Her family relocated to Bulloch County when she was in the fourth grade, and she was enrolled in Brooklet Elementary School, then Southeast Bulloch Middle and SEBHS.

For Cowan, the academic top spot is familiar territory, even if she wasn't tracking the high school title until the end. She held the highest average in her class in the fifth and ninth grades, and again through her junior and senior years.

That streak runs in the family. Her sister Janie, 15, took home the highest average during her own freshman year. Her younger brothers, Milton, 12, and Thomas, 10, have both won the highest average awards in their respective grades.

"My family is incredibly proud of the hard work I have put in over my years of schooling to achieve this honor," Cowan said. "My parents have influenced me so much. They gave me good examples of how to work hard and how to have discipline."

Next up is the Georgia Institute of Technology, where Cowan will major in business administration with a concentration in accounting. She has already built a resume for it, picking up a semifinalist spot for Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business Dean's Scholarship, alongside the Truist Financial Foundations Scholarship, the Baby Grand Music Scholarship, and the Statesboro Kiwanis Club Youth of the Month Scholarship. She also spent part of her senior year working at a local accounting firm, a job that anchored her interest in the field.

"I’m looking forward to meeting so many new people and getting to learn more about fields I am interested in," she said.

While math will be her career, English was her favorite subject in school because she liked the mechanics of writing. She credits two teachers for keeping her on track: Joey Harvey, her elementary gifted teacher at Brooklet Elementary, and Danielle Hibbs-Heiser, her Advanced Placement Biology teacher at SEBHS.

"Mrs. Harvey always made learning so enjoyable, and encouraged us to succeed," Cowan said. "And Mrs. Hibbs-Heiser was so passionate about having us succeed, and helped me do well on my AP exam."

“I absolutely loved having Carli in QUEST (gifted class),” Harvey said. “Not only was she so academically smart, but she was super creative, and always down for anything we got into in class. She was so kind to others, and helpful to her peers as well as her teachers. Carli was one of our inaugural anchors on the Brooklet Elementary News Team in fifth grade.”

Outside the classroom, Cowan's had a busy schedule. She was active in Beta Club, National Honor Society, her church youth group, and she performed in several community theater productions. Music also was a priority as a member of SEBHS’s acclaimed Advanced Chorus. She earned first place in Girls Trio at region literary, placed as the first-runner-up at the Class AAA State Literary Meet, and participated in All-State Chorus three times. She was also named a Georgia Scholar.

"I have loved making so many good memories with my friends and family, particularly on meaningful school trips with my choir," Carli said.

Before they took turns at the podium to deliver their speeches, Cowan and her best friend—salutatorian Madeline Langes—stood together on stage to sing a duet of the National Anthem. The two are longtime members of the school’s Advanced Chorus.

"We have worked together in many classes, surviving late night study sessions and test review phone calls," Cowan said. "I am so happy I got to share this with her."

In her valedictory speech, Cowan didn't give her classmates a generic roadmap to success. Instead, she encouraged them to embrace the messy trial and error of growing up.

"Don’t be afraid to try new things, and then hate them. Allow yourself to change your mind," Cowan said. "Let’s build lives for ourselves based on what we love, but never be afraid to keep discovering what those things are. And once we find what we love, let’s hold fast to that life. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7). Let’s use those gifts!"