Southside High School valedictorian Ashley Cunningham said it took discipline to be able to earn her coveted title. 

She attributes her success to her mother and grandparents for setting strict rules for her while she was in high school — something she said she wasn’t happy about at the time but is thankful for looking back.

“I had strict curfews. She made me do my homework, wouldn’t let me hang out with the wrong people and wouldn’t let me go out everywhere,” Cunningham said about her mother Stephanie Cunningham. “I was upset about it at first, but it all paid off.” She also added her father Leon Hardy, and grandparents Albert and Lillie Cunningham were a big part of her success as they pushed her along the way.

Cunningham played basketball and volleyball and participated in Beta Club, National Honors Society and ROTC and said sports gave her the mental drive to excel.

“[Becoming valedictorian] wasn’t as hard, but I had to overcome several obstacles like peer pressure, and not hanging out with the wrong people — just keeping my mind on my work,” Cunningham said, who maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her four years at Southside High. “I had to be disciplined and keep my mind focused on my goals.”

Cunningham said she wants to encourage her classmates to never give up and always keep their minds on their dreams and goals by never letting anyone get them down. She said that is the thing she will miss the most when she goes to Auburn University Montgomery in the fall to study accounting, will be the closeness of her class.

Cunningham described her senior class as the type of class that was always laid back, constantly joking with one another and whenever a fellow student was in need, she said the whole class would come together and offer support.

“I can’t wait to go to school and just start my four years all over again,” Cunningham said.