BALDWIN COUNTY, Ga. — During graduation season, plenty of high school seniors, including William Steinfeld, will be celebrating their achievements over the past four years.
"It's a lot of clinging going on," Steinfeld said when looking at all the medals he was wearing on his uniform.
That's the sound of the valedictorian walking the halls at Georgia Military College Preparatory School. Steinfeld said he wears his tapestry of accomplishments with pride.
"It definitely reminds me of, like, where I am and everything I've done here," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld made history at GMC when he was named a Professional Association of Georgia Educators STAR Student.
The achievement requires seniors to have the highest SAT score at their school and be in the top ten percent or top ten students of their class, based on grade point average.
"I think they told me no one from GMC had ever gone past region, and then no one from Baldwin, just our whole county overall, had gone since just a couple years after they started in 1960s," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld represented Region Six alongside one of his favorite teachers. He said he's had four classes with Mrs. Alisha Rochon.
"I picked her as my star teacher, actually. She's very compassionate. She cares about all her students and their success in her class," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld said some of his favorite senior moments come from being in the stands.
"I've done marching band throughout high school, and that's always been Friday night football games. It definitely comes to mind as one of the most fun things we've done. Just last night, state championship for the seniors that was a great experience," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld plans to attend Georgia Tech in the fall and major in biology with a pre-med track. He said the skills and discipline he's learned in high school will help him at tech.
"Leadership being like a project leader, doing research in a lab. Just taking charge of projects, knowing how to communicate well with people," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld advises younger students to stay determined despite the ups and downs that come with being in high school.
"Do what you like doing throughout high school, keep challenging yourself, keep pushing forward when times are hard because so much can change in such a short time," Steinfeld said.
Steinfeld will walk across the stage and address the class of 2024 on May 24 at 7 p.m.