By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School 2020 salutatorian Chloe (CJ) Gibson as you might expect, never received a grade that was anything but an ‘A.’ The closest Gibson got to getting a ‘B’ was her freshman year. In P.E. class through the first nine weeks, she held a ‘B’ so Gibson approached the teacher and mentioned she was going out for track and field the upcoming year and that ‘B’ turned into an ‘A’ by the end of the semester.
Gibson mentioned on the Room 428 radio show on 1590 KVGB & 95.5 FM that her mindset has always been that she needs to be the best at something.
“I always felt that I needed to work super hard to be the best at one thing,” said Gibson.
Time, dedication and sometimes a lack of sleep went into Gibson achieving high academic success. Working as a clerk at the Great Bend Public Library, Gibson would study at the library for two hours after school. Going to bed around 10 p.m. each night, Gibson would wake up early to be prepared for her classes.
“I would wake up however early I needed,” said Gibson. “Sometimes it was 3 a.m. or 5 a.m. and I would get as much done as I could for the day.”
Along with her studies, Gibson got heavily involved in the speech and debate program and became the editor of the high school newspaper Panther Tales.
“I was never good at talking, but I think speech and debate pushed me the most by forcing me to focus on what you say and to do so in eight minutes,” Gibson said.
All the hard work paid off for Gibson by earning a large scholarship to attend Fort Hays State University next fall where she intends to study English.
“I am not completely sure at this point, but I’m saying my plan is to get my master’s degree at Emporia State University after my time in Hays and continue working in library,” said Gibson. “But that is far in the future.”
Becoming the salutatorian did take its toll on Gibson her final two years of high school.
“At this point, you have to work beyond hard because the top 10-percent in our class mostly have all ‘A’s.’ Sometimes it does not have to do with how hard you work but the choices you make.”
Gibson’s sophomore year included her taking classes she wanted to take, but realized by her junior year that those classes were not weighted and had no chance at becoming valedictorian or salutatorian. From that point on, she took as many weighted classes as possible.
Gibson admitted that her senior was becoming extremely stressful as she tried to be the best at everything she was involved in.
“I hadn’t slept very well in three days and I was living on about five cups of coffee,” said Gibson. “It was the night before the play and my friends had to somewhat kidnap me and force me in their jeep. My hands were purple, I was shaking, and I was about to fall over.”
Gibson’s friends drove her to Dillon’s and purchased her 7UP and saltine crackers and made her eat and drink.
“That is a level of stress that I do not want anyone to experience,” said Gibson.
That experience and the stress she put on herself during her senior year is why the focus of her speech at the 2020 commencement is centered on kids working too hard to strive for perfection.
Gibson is among 216 graduating seniors from Great Bend High School in 2020 that will conduct their graduation ceremony June 21 at Memorial Stadium.
Listen to the entire Room 428 interview with Gibson that aired May 12 below...