The road to success never looks the same for everyone.
Oakwood High School’s Marci Wilt found that out at a young age.
“My goal from the beginning of high school was to be one of our class’ Valedictorians,” Wilt said. “However, I had some bumps along the road at home and at school and I ended up losing my 4.0 GPA.
“While I was very upset at myself for a while, I eventually came around to realizing that sticking with my hard work and doing my best still paid off and rewarded me when I was told I was the Salutatorian.
“Even though it’s not what I originally was aiming for, it is still a big accomplishment and I’ve come around to still being proud of myself after everything.”
Wilt managed to remain on the High Honor Roll all four years at Oakwood, earning a spot on the National Honor Society and the Academic Challenge team. She is also an Illinois State Scholar.
During her last two years of high school, Wilt decided to go all in.
She added Scholastic Bowl, Student Council, Band/Marching Band, FCA and Drama Club to her list of activities.
“This past year, I was also able to take on various leadership roles in my extracurriculars,” she said. “I was the Secretary of the Student Council, the Drum Major of our Band, the Senior Class Vice President, and the Student Director of the Drama Club.
“It was really important to me to be involved because it gave me a lot of experience in working with other people, it helped me to discover and follow my passions, and it helped me to improve my leadership skills. It was also just a lot of fun and I almost always had something to keep me busy.”
The Salutatorian said there isn’t another community she would have wanted to grow up in.
“Oakwood High School is a special place because we have a lot of school pride,” she said. “Anyone who’s been to one of our pep-assemblies would agree with me! We have a lot of fun together and for the most part, we’re a pretty tight-knit group.”
This weekend, Wilt will walk across the stage, grabbing her diploma as her loved ones watch and her classmates wait for their turn.
“Throughout high school, my biggest support system was my mom,” she said. “She always pushed me to get my work done, study hard, and just to be a good student and person. She’s always had high expectations for me and that has taught me to set high expectations for myself.
“My friends have also helped me a lot through high school, whether that be academically or emotionally.”
As she looks ahead to attending college at the University of Illinois to study Animal Sciences, Wilt will take the lessons she learned through focus and hard work with her.
“Hard work really is the key to success in my opinion,” she said. “Also, to always stay involved. Being involved really completes any experience. It kind of gives you that sense of fulfillment when you know you’re actually a part of something and not just along for the ride.”
Her favorite memory of Oakwood will be the Thursday before Homecoming week when she led Cometfest.
“I was actually the head of the committee that organized that event so I didn’t get to participate, but people really had fun and a lot of people have said that it’s one of their favorite memories of senior year,” Wilt said. “It made me feel like we did a really good job and I had a ton of fun organizing it and watching everyone participate.
“And to add to all of that, the seniors won the competition!”
The last eight weeks has looked a little different for Wilt than many other teenagers. While some teens continue to be with or visit their friends, she has had to stay inside the whole time because of an immunodeficiency.
Even prior to the stay-at-home order, Wilt missed much of the third quarter because of illness.
“I have to be really careful with everything I do,” she said.
But Wilt’s resiliency and desire to learn new things will propel her onto the next chapter of her life.
“My love of learning really just came from my curiosity and always wanting to understand something new,” she said. “I’ve always loved learning new skills and information. The opportunity to learn is so important to me because if I couldn’t learn, I would have no way to channel my energy and curiosity.”
