EARLY – Ty McConn earned valedictorian honors while Kailee Love will represent Early High School’s Class of 2021 as its salutatorian.

Early’s graduation is slated for 8 p.m. Friday, May 21 at Longhorn Stadium.

McConn, the son of Larry and Kari McConn, said of the valedictorian accolade, “It’s a great honor. I’ve worked very hard in all four of my years with my studies and to help others. It’s a really great honor to be recognized for all the hard work I’ve put in. We get our reports each semester and I noticed I’ve been at the top, so it’s something that I knew was attainable and achievable for me.”

Love, the daughter of Troy and Jill Love, said of her salutatorian honor, “I worked for Lord knows how long, a lot longer than just four years, so it feels like a big accomplishment to me and it’s a big deal to my parents and to my family. It means a lot, it really does, and it’s a great honor and something I’ve really worked hard for. It’s a lot of hard work.”

McConn plans to attend Texas A&M University and major in business and minor in sports management.

“I’ve always been a really big sports fan, it’s a passion of mine and something I love to do,” McConn said of his choice of majors. “That’s a goal I set for when I go to college, I want to do something I love instead of something that might make me the most money. Business is a good degree to get me where I want to go, it’s flexible, I can do almost anything with it. If I can’t get into a front office with a sports organization I can always use my business degree to do something sustainable for me.”

Love is bound for Texas State University and will be majoring in nursing and minoring in psychology.

“I really want to focus on psychology because I’ve always had a fascination and it’s something my mom does, too,” Love said. “She works with mental health patients and I’d like to do that as well.”

While in high school, McConn took part in band, drum line, National Honor Society, student council, future problem solving, community problem solving, UIL academics.

Love was involved in athletics all four years – softball, basketball, and volleyball – as well as National Honor Society, future problem and AP classes such as English, Economics, and History.

Reflecting on high school, McConn said, “I’ve had great teachers. Coach T, I had him for freshman year biology and he really taught me what it’s going to take to succeed in high school. I had Coach Jones for calculus and pre-calc and he’s an incredible teacher. I had Mrs. Morales for English and she’s a great teacher. My favorite subject, I’ve always had a brain for math so I enjoyed it. I’ve always enjoyed my English classes, too.”

Love also reminisced about her years in high school, stating, “My favorite subject was definitely English. I really enjoyed getting to dive into older literature. My favorite teacher was Coach Chavez, he was more like a life coach. He was definitely one of the bigger influences, he always had my back. He was a big part of everything that I did. He’s a good coach and a great supporter as well.”

Looking ahead five to 10 years in the future, McConn said, “Ideally I’d like to be working somehow in a front office for a sports organization, I’m not really picky on which sport. That’s my dream job, so hopefully after college that’s where I can go.”

Love said of her plans in the not-too-distant future, “I will probably still be a traveling nurse but before then I hope to be settled down in a clinic and be helping patients and maybe even doing some volunteer work in other countries.”

McConn extended his thanks to “all the great teachers I’ve had and thank my parents and everyone here at Early High School and this community that’s helped me along the way.”

Love added, “I definitely want to thank my parents for pushing even at times if I thought it was a little too much. I also want to thank the faculty here for always having my back and providing me with what I need to be successful.”

***

BROWN COUNTY VALEDICTORIAN/SALUTATORIAN SCHEDULE

May 18 – Blanket, Brookesmith

May 19 – May, Zephyr

May 20 – Early, Bangs

May 21 – Brownwood