Dan Walton
Oliver Chronicle

The 2019 SOSS valedictorian is Abby Teigen.

Her momentous speech, delivered last night at the SOSS grad ceremony, was focused on the value of vulnerability, and stepping outside of the comfort zone to pursue opportunity. While writing it out, she decided to give it a more inspirational tone rather than humorous.

Teigen faced her vulnerabilities many times throughout her five years as a student at SOSS. Earlier in 2019, for example, she signed up to be in the high school musical with no previous acting experience, taking on the lead role of Sophie in Mama Mia.

“It was scary but in the end I had a great time preparing for the musical with people I’ve known since I was very young,” she said. “I’ve been pushing myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do and it’s really benefitted me.”

Teigen was surprised to have been selected by her peers as the 2019 valedictorian, and feels honoured as “some really great people were also nominated.”

What she’ll miss most about SOSS is the “very special” community of teachers and classmates.

She said it has a “very warm” community, so “no matter who you are you’re going to find a group that accepts you.”

While Teigen’s circle of best friends is small, she felt connected with all her peers and maintained good relationships all around.

“I try not to be negative.”

Her friends are “the sweetest people ever” and she loves them.

“They understand what it’s like to be an academic student while balancing extra curricular activities,” which is a hard thing to balance properly.

If she could do high school all over again, she says she wouldn’t change a thing and feels like she spent her time wisely.

So what’s it like to be a teen in the 20-teens?

She said the rapid rise of technology and social media makes it feel like things have changed quickly for high school students. With so many ways to contact people, miscommunication has become more common – so when possible, face-to-face discussions are much more beneficial.

But with all of her closest peers leaving high school as they begin their careers, they will have to rely largely on technology to stay connected.

“Social media will make it easy to stay in touch, but I’m not sure who will keep in touch – I guess it depends where we end up.”

Her favourite thing about Oliver is the small-town feel.

“It may feel cramped sometimes growing up but you turn a corner and people are going to support you no matter what – people I’m not even acquainted with will congratulate me after a dance routine or musical or anything. I just feel very supported here.”

Teigen’s favourite subjects are history and English. Favourite band is Coldplay. She moved to Oliver from Abbottsford with her family when she was 4. She was an Oliver Ambassador, an instructor at The Dance Studio (where she was also the top dancer for several years), and a part-time employee with Parks and Rec.

She plans on becoming an elementary school teacher and will begin studying education at Trinity Western University in September. The Christian-based community is important to her and she’s excited about making connections there.

Teigen won the Senior Citizenship Award in Grade 11 and 12, and the Junior Citizenship Award in Grade 10.

And she’s very thankful to have the parents she does.

“They helped me a lot.”