STEAM Academy Valedictorian Sarah Jane White has set herself a high target for a professional goal.

“My dream in life is to become a puppeteer for Sesame Street,” she said.

And she plans to begin her hopeful path to Sesame Street by attending Georgia Southern University beginning in August and majoring in art.

She said she has limited experience with actual puppeteering and she knows she has a lot to learn about the art and earning the opportunity to reach her dream.

In the meantime, White already has developed quite a following on her Instagram page of her fan art of Sesame Street character drawings – 1,500 followers, in fact.

One goal White already has achieved was to become valedictorian of the STEAM class of 2025. 

“I always was a good student ever since kindergarten,” she said. “I was really young when it came to learning. I began to learn to read when I was just 2. When it came to my senior year, I decided to aim to be the valedictorian. That is going to be my goal. That's going to help me with the rest of my life.”

Also, White credits her teachers for her success.

“I think what's special about STEAM, particularly to me, are the teachers – the relationships I have built with them,” she said. “I'm friends with several of my old teachers on Facebook, because they've made such an impact on my life, helping me get to this point. I think the teachers really are what make STEAM so special.”

In her valedictorian address, White focused on overcoming obstacles in school and life.

“I have a hard time with depression, anxiety, OCD,” she said. “Those were major things that kept me from doing a lot of stuff I wanted to do. But I got the help I needed and that really helped me soar and get to this point and that's basically what the address theme was about.”

White said she thinks it’s important to be up front about her struggles with mental illness.

“Around 10th grade or so my anxiety and my depression got to the point where when I showed up at school, I wouldn't even make it through one class and I'd have to leave or I just wouldn't go at all,” she said. “So, I started going to therapy. I was prescribed medications that helped me a ton. It made me more outgoing. It made me basically more of a person.

“I think people need to see that getting help with mental health is what you should do. I think it’s good if I’m the one speaking about that.”