Q&A with Nelson County High School’s valedictorian and salutatorian

By Erin McGrath

Published: June 11, 2008

The Nelson County Times sat down with Nelson County High School’s valedictorian and salutatorian to talk about their high school experiences and future plans.

Valedictorian Andy Gordon, 17, of Roseland

Q: What are you going to be doing right after graduation this summer?
A: Going to the beach with a bunch of friends. We’re going to Carolina Beach. When I get back I’ll be working. I work on a farm and it’s about five miles from my house.

Q: Where are you going to go to college?
A: The University of Virginia. I had narrowed it down to UVa and William & Mary, which is a tough choice because both are really good academically. In the end, I went to UVA just cause it was a bigger school and I figured there would be more opportunities to just be happy. I like sports, so they had better sports teams to watch than William & Mary.

Q: What will you be majoring in?
A: I haven’t decided yet. I’m really pretty open. I’m interested in a bunch of different stuff, but not enough to really make a choice yet.

Q: What is your ultimate goal?
A: I don’t have one really.

Q: Do you have any secrets for academic success?
A: You just have to work hard. It doesn’t come that easy. You have to study a lot. With math, I found just working a lot of problems before a test really helped and with other subjects, if you read the chapter, you’d really do better. Reading and working stuff out helps more than just looking over stuff.

Q: What will you miss most about high school?
A: I guess just knowing everybody and having everybody know you. It kinda makes you feel special and I know at college it won’t be like that.

Q: What are you going to miss the least?
A: Sometimes its annoying to have people who don’t really want to be at school and who just kind of goof off because they can kind of take away from the class. I won’t miss that, I guess.

Q: Were you a member of any clubs or teams in high school?
A: When I was a freshman I did cross country, I played baseball freshman year. Sophomore year, I played J.V. basketball and I did baseball again and I made varsity that year. I’ve been varsity (baseball) three years and I did varsity basketball last year. I did academic team two years and National Honor Society for two years.

Q: Did you have a favorite teacher in high school?
A: I like Mr. Barton for history. He’s opinionated but he doesn’t really push it on you. It’s different than any other teachers. I also like Mr. Green and Ms. Tinder. They’re all good teachers.

Q: Do you have any advice for next year’s seniors?
A: Cherish every moment because it goes really fast. Just enjoy your friends before they’re gone.

Salutatorian Caleb Dutton-Plutzer, 17, of Faber

Q: What are you going to be doing right after graduation this summer?
A: I’m going back out to Arizona. My dad lives there so I’ll probably go out and try to get a job maybe.

Q: Where are you going to go to college?
A: To Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. They have a good arts school. It was in state and I like Richmond. I haven’t really been in Virginia that long so I don’t mind staying for longer.

Q: What will you be majoring in?
A: In cinema. Filmmaking. Screen writing, stuff like that.

Q: What is your ultimate goal?
A: I don’t really have an ultimate goal. I want to get adjusted to living on my own, I think and probably rehabilitate my leg. That’s my first short-term goal. I broke my leg skateboarding.

Q: Do you have any secrets for academic success?
A: Take classes that you’re interested in. I don’t know how well I would’ve done if I was stuck in classes that I would’ve hated. I guess I got lucky, I got along with most of my teachers pretty well and I was interested in what we were doing most of the time.

Q: What will you miss most about high school?
A: Probably just being able to take drives at night and seeing the county, going swimming in a river or something. Some teachers I’ll miss, I think. Some maybe I won’t, I don’t know.

Q: What are you going to miss the least?
A: Probably having to drive everywhere.

Q: Were you a member of any clubs or teams in high school?
A: I didn’t do too much associated with the high school. I was skateboarding most of the time, filming and making skate videos, stuff like that. I sort of got into filmmaking through skateboarding.

Q: Did you have a favorite teacher in high school?
A: Yeah. I’d have to name a couple, I guess. I think I enjoyed Mr. Barton’s classes the most. I had him for AP U.S. History and Humanities also. He was the most excited about what he was teaching, I think. And he was interesting. I’d have to say Ms. Goad, as well. I had her for English. She was just a nice lady. She was funny and just pretty clever. And Mr. Gonzalez too. I had him for Spanish for most of high school.

Q: Do you have any advice for next year’s seniors?
A: Don’t weigh yourself with taking too many classes. Only take the classes that you need to or really want to because it gets kind of hectic when you have to write all of these college essays and all these projects you have to work on that are these long-term things then you have the everyday things you have to do for regular classes. Lighten up on the workload in high school so you can focus on getting into the college you want to and not stress out about that.