George Rogers Clark High School Class of 2019 salutatorian Sarah Kubican wasn’t quite sure how it felt to rank at the top of her class.

Kubican, 17, said she always knew she was in the higher ranks, so it wasn’t surprising, but she was a “bit sad to lose the competition between Corey (Terrell, the valedictorian) and herself.”

Though, overall, she was happy to speak at graduation and represent the class of 2019 as the salutatorian.

In the fall, she plans to attend Miami University in Ohio, majoring in bioengineering with a minor in French.

Kubican said she looks forward to the challenges college and the workplace will hold in the coming years.

“I like to be focused and around people that also value and focus on the same thing,” Kubican said. “It’ll be nice to be in an environment where everyone has the same goals.”

Kubican said she is also looking forward to growing as a person, figuring out where her boundaries are, and what she can live with and without.

“It seems like everything’s ahead of me,” she said.

There are some things she will miss about high school, though.

During high school, she participated in French Honors Society, Beta Club and National Honors Society. She was also a Central Baptist Church Youth band guitarist, CBC fourth- and fifth-grade small group leader, Literary Journal member and editor, and a Mentor & Meals tutor.

“I think I’ll miss the good friends I’ve made, teachers included,” Kubican said. “I’m not the best at keeping in touch with people. I suppose that’s my vice. And undoubtedly, some connections will wither. It’ll be a bit of a blow.

“It’s hard for me to let people get close enough to transition from what I consider the acquaintance stage, so being cut off and having to forge new connections will be difficult.”

Kubican said it’s hard to pinpoint a single memory that stands out from high school as it all seemed to blur together. She loved sitting with her friends in the library, commiserating about something or another.

Kubican also recalled some good memories from her first year in high school.

“I was in European history, and, mind you, Mr. Sizemore was the first truly sarcastic teacher I had ever had so I was trying to keep back my shock and laughter the entire first unit and at the end of the unit we were looking at Renaissance artwork and the Mona Lisa comes up,” Kubican said. “And he mentions her having ‘man hands.’ All bets were off; I was laughing so hard I was crying because I had never heard someone say something negative about such a renowned piece of work and after those words, I realized: ‘Wow, she does have man hands.’ It just made my day.”

Of all the things she’s learned throughout high school, the most important was learning how to be comfortable with herself as she is, Kubican said.

“Learning how to form and define your own opinions and how to keep yourself still ‘you’ in the midst of your friends,” she said.

As for her fellow class of 2019, Kubican said she wishes them all an end with which they are content.

“I expect you all the — maybe — 40th reunion or whatever,” she said. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Ten years from now, Kubican said, seems so far away. But maybe, she will be traveling the world by then.

“I plan on getting a minor — or double major depending on my French AP exam — in French and maybe working for a company that will have me travel, I suppose that would be nice,” Kubican said. “My mother always said I’m the one most likely to settle someplace where she won’t be able to pronounce the name. Maybe I’ll be married with a kid. I’d like to have a family one day, and girls have a limited time deal so … When I finally do settle down, I wouldn’t mind a house in the woods — Maybe I’ll write my own version of ‘Walden.’

“I like the mountains and cold northern oceans — someplace where it rains so I can drink lots of hot tea. I’d have a white dog I’d spoil the heck out of so he’s super fat and name him Peanut Butter but call him PB, so everyone thinks it’s Polar Bear. Have a mini orchard out back with lots of fruits and vegetables … I don’t know, it’s a tricky life experiment. Who knows where I’ll end up?”