As she faced the task of completing one of her biggest school projects in her high school career, Cortny Williams kept finding ways to put the project off, until her parents gave her some much-needed advice.
“I was putting it off and putting it off more, and my parents told me not to procrastinate," Williams said. "They said if I started procrastinating now I'd do it my entire life, and that's not good for you. They told me to face it head on, so that's what I did."
The advice from her parents, Timmy and Annette Williams, obviously had a profound effect on Cortny, as she will walk across the stage this week as the valedictorian of Belgreen High School's Class of 2018.
It will be a proud moment for Williams, who transferred from Russellville Middle School to Belgreen in seventh grade, a decision of which she never looked back.
“It's the best decision I ever made. It's like a family here," Williams said. "Everybody knows each other, and it's always been a better fit for me. Everybody in our class knows each other, and everybody has love. If you don't know your classmates, you can't have a love for each other.”
Williams will continue her education at Northwest-Shoals Community College this fall, with plans to transfer to Athens State University to major in elementary education. Williams had the opportunity to work as a student aide for a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten class for a few years, and that convinced her to look into a career in education.
“Working with those kids was my favorite thing to do," Williams said. "It was something I looked forward to every day."
Williams received a valedictorian scholarship from NW-SCC, which pays for 16 semester hours for two years. She also received the prestigious NaphCare scholarship in the amount of $5,000. Williams said Northwest-Shoals does a good job of attracting some of the area's top students to their campus.
“Northwest offers the best scholarship for being top in your class. No other college around helps you out as much as Northwest, I guarantee you,” Williams said. “Even if it wasn't around here, students would still go there because they offer the best scholarships.”
While finishing number one in her class is helping Williams pay for her education, she said being valedictorian wasn't something she even thought of until her junior year.
“Until 11th grade, I just wanted to do well academically for myself," she said. "When I got to be a junior, I realized I could do it. Then I began to really strive to make good grades on everything once I knew I had a chance."
Williams was a first baseman on the varsity softball team at Belgreen since seventh grade. She was also active in Beta Club, Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Business Leaders of America and the National Society of High School Scholars.
“FCA was for sure my favorite," she said. "I really enjoyed the meetings and devotionals. We watched inspirational videos. FCA helps you remember that even though you're playing sports and are an athlete, you have to keep God first."
Softball, although a fixture for Williams throughout high school, really had a larger impact on her this year because of the close-knit nature of her team.
“I've played on travel teams and played with all kinds of people since I began softball," Williams said. "This year's group was the best I've ever played with. Everybody loved each other so much. If you have that, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. If you have that, it's a great experience either way."
As far as her study routine, Williams believes in note cards. Lots of them.
“My advice to younger students would be to always put academics first, not athletics. That's the most important thing," Williams said. "The way I studied, I probably wrote 100 note cards every day. You have to find a certain way to study and stick to it. Don't try to change it up."
Looking back at her tenure at Belgreen, Williams appreciates so many teachers who've positively influenced her, but there's one who stands out—Susan Thompson.
“She is the history and economics teacher at Belgreen," Williams said. "She told us it would be the hardest class we'd be in, but she promised to prepare us for college and life after school, and I can guarantee you she did."
As part of Thompson's class, students learned life skills they could carry with them. They did an economics project where students had to research getting loans with banks, going to insurance companies for quotes and traveling to the courthouse to get car tags.
“These are all things in life you have to know how to do, and she gave us the opportunity to learn about them,” Williams said.
Williams will take the stage Thursday evening to deliver her valedictorian speech, which she wrote last week. She plans to close her speech with a Bible verse from Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.
“If you treasure these things in your heart," Williams said, "God will provide you with an abundance of blessings."
