Valedictorian Anneliese Helton and Salutatorian Bennett Cory both plan to take the base and background they have from growing up in Pilot Point to pursue an education and careers in the medical field.
For Helton, that plan for her life sprouted from her own experience with an autoimmune disease.
'I have a condition called lupus,' she said. 'So from that, I get infections very easily, and I had an infection called endocarditis, which is basically an infection on your heart.'
That infection required extensive intervention to clear it.
'I had to have open heart surgery so that they could remove that infection from me,' she said.
As a result, Helton grew in the perspective she has on life.
'Health-wise, it's affected me negatively, but mindset-wise, I think it just really told me this could be it and you need to go after what you want, because you don't know how long you have, so I think it helped in my mindset a lot, espcially to achieve valedictorian.'
Helton, who began her education in Prosper, is grateful she moved to Pilot Point as a young girl.
Now, she will take the lessons and skills she has learned with her to Texas A&M University, where she plans to major in biology.
She hopes to then either attend medical school or to obtain a master's degree in stem cell biology to help develop therapies for incurable illnesses and conditions, such as lupus.
'I had so many great doctors and nurses while I was ... at Children's Health in Dallas,' Helton said. 'It's inspired me to want to go into that.'
Regenerative health is her focus, 'because they are making strides in autoimmune disorders,' Helton said.
She said that the strength of the Pilot Point community will bolster her in her future.
'I love the connection I've gotten wth so many teachers, especially my ag teacher from last year, Mrs. Cotten,' Helton said. 'She was my advocacy coach in FFA, and ... even though it had nothing to do with medicine at all, it made me want to go into that field even more because we learned how to advocate and speak.'
Her family has also supported her through every challenge, saying she wants to emulate her mother's empathy for her counseling clients in her own work in the future and her father's perseverance.
'My parents have genuinely been my rock through all of high school, through all my health stuff,' Helton said.
Cory, too, was inspired by his mother's work.
'I've always been interested in the med field,' he said. 'My mom's a physical therapist, and I've always been around medical terminology.'
He's turning that interest into plans to obtain a biology degree from Dallas Baptist University, being pre-med and following that with attending medical school.
'I want to be an emergency cardiologist,' Cory said.
Running and physical fitness have been a key focus of Cory's throughout his high school career, including setting the school record in the 800 meters of 1:52.52.
Cory holds himself to high standards, wanting to be a good example for not only his younger sister but also for the other kids who might look toward him as an example.
That's part of why he felt such pride in earning the honor of being salutatorian.
'It means a lot to me because I remember, at my brother's graduation, hearing the salutatorian and valedictorian's speeches, and I just remember being like, 'I want to be there one day,'' he said. ''I want to be giving that speech,' because it was so encouraging and inspirational.'
Cory was grateful for his dual-credit professor who was strict about late assignments for helping him 'be a lot more responsible,' he said.
He credited his parents, too, with helping him grow into the person he is, his mom by keeping him accountable and on track, and his dad by allowing him to have the room to make his own decisions about how to tackle the challenges he faces.
Growing up in Pilot Point and seeing their example was what pushed Cory to succeed.
'I kind of sit back and look at people and observe what they're going to do, what they're doing right now and how that's going to affect them in the future,' he said.
Seeing the different ways his friends and peers have handled coming from different backgrounds has helped Cory develop 'a lot more empathy for people,' he said.
'I really have a lot of love for the community because of it, and it makes me want to be better,' Cory said.
