Culminating his high school years at Statesboro STEAM Academy as his senior classes’ valedictorian, Michael Siggers is grateful for his time at the charter school.

“For me, it was easy to learn because of the people that were there,” he said. “There would always be people and teachers around for you and help you understand and learn. There was never a moment where you couldn't go get help. It was more of a family thing. Everybody felt like family.”

For Siggers, he started thinking about becoming valedictorian of the Class of 2026 two years ago.

“I heard about it in 10th grade, and I thought: ‘Yeah, that'd be nice if I got it,’” he said. “And I knew I was in a three-way tie in 11th grade. I said, ‘I'm just going to try my best.’ It wasn't something I was absolutely striving for, but it was something I wanted.

“My mom always tells me, ‘Whatever you do is a representation of your household, and your name, and who you are and what you're going to be.’ So, I just keep striving to be the best.”

Initially, Siggers hoped to start his college career at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, but admits: “I didn’t have the scores to get in.”

But Georgia Tech is where he is aiming to get his degree.

“I am going to Georgia Southern,” he said. “My goal is to work hard for two years and transfer to Georgia Tech. With the in-state transfer system, it will be easier to get into Tech, because that’s where I really want to go.”

Also, Siggers said he is still juggling ideas about picking a college major.

“I was thinking about cybersecurity for a while, but, overall, that's not that interesting to me. But I do want to do something in the electrical engineering field.”

Siggers said, however, what he ultimately settles on as a career focus will be a work in progress.

“I'm going to go to Georgia Southern and just see what I need to do and what my major will be at Georgia Tech,” he said. “I want to be better than I was the day before, and I just want to keep getting better as a student, a man.”