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The Selma Class of 2025 has endured a lot to get to graduation night, especially for Selma’s top two graduates.

Ka’Sharee Wilson knew that she wanted to be the valedictorian of the class when she entered Selma High four years ago.

“Being the valedictorian of my class means to me that I am someone that has always put their best foot forward, has always been down for the challenge, has always persevered through everything. Any type of problem that came my way, I persevered through. Academics — I stay on top of my academics. I never slacked. I had no time to slack,” Wilson said. ““I told myself I wanted to be top of my class. I made that promise, and I had to hold my promise up.”

Wilson, the daughter of Kemeka Wilson, was the first valedictorian in her family, and she plans to be the first in her immediate family to receive a bachelor’s degree. This comes after she has already received her associate’s degree at Wallace Community College Selma.

She plans to continue her academic career at the University of Alabama and plans to study to become an OBGYN.

“I think just being a young black female and having a lot of questions about my body. Everybody I know, my friends and others, they have questions about their bodies,” Wilson said. It’s like we’re just kind of scared to always ask people questions. So I want to be that light for young black girls and girls of all races. I want to be able to help them, educate them on their bodies, what’s going on and how can we help you.”

Salutatorian Javiell Reeves, the second of Selma’s top graduates, will be a first-time college student from his family. He said he is happy to be a part of the top two.

“We’ve been through a lot these four years,” Reeves said. “The principal, superintendents, different teachers, different counselors. There has been continuous switching, but I thank them for pushing me.”

Reeves, the son of Octavia Reeves and Julius Reeves, said he plans to attend Tennessee State University and major in electrical engineering. He also plans to minor in business and hopes to land a leadership role in big company.

He also thanked Selma for helping him get to this point.

“We don’t have much, but the people make it seem like it’s a lot,” Reeves said. “They make it feel like you have a lot. They comfort you. They motivate you. They push you to do better things.”