With graduation right around the corner, the class of 2025 seniors are finishing up their classes and making the last memories before everyone goes their separate ways. Yearbooks are being signed, staff members are making their speeches and graduation caps are being decorated. It’s a day every senior looks forward to, getting to celebrate their accomplishments over the course of four years.
Among this, each year the student with the highest GPA is named their graduating class valedictorian. This year, representing the class of 2025 in both character and academic excellence, Santa Rosa Academy named Daksh Bagga as its valedictorian.
Bagga has been attending Santa Rosa Academy since the third grade and has been a part of the Varsity football team since Junior year. Described by his friends as “hard-working” and a “good friend,” Bagga has given himself quite the reputation during his years at SRA.
Despite being quite the athlete, Bagga has always believed that academics came before anything else. With the encouragement of his family, Bagga began to take higher classes as a sophomore to originally get ahead for college, when he found out that he was ranked #1 for the highest GPA in the class of 2025. It was then that Bagga began his fight to keep his number one spot.
“During my sophomore year I found out my class rank stood at 1st, I figured that since I already was here I might as well stay competitive and take tougher classes that offered higher credits to maintain my rank,” stated Bagga
It wasn’t easy, in fact, Bagga admitted the amount of times he took on much more than he could handle and almost felt like giving up. Bagga began taking Honors Physics as a sophomore and felt the consequences. To keep him grounded, Bagga had to learn how to ask for help and realized that it was due to his bad study habits that kept from achieving his goal.
During that same sophomore year, Bagga took it upon himself to learn better study habits that involved being organized and focusing on one single task at a time. “They [study habits] were terrible for a really long time, I had to sit down and properly learn to organize my schedule.”
Going into junior year, Bagga had made the decision to join the high school football team where he learned the true meaning of fully stepping out of your comfort zone. “I was never an athletic person, to the point where I dreaded going to P.E. It wasn’t until I stepped out of my comfort zone and pushed myself that I found I could achieve anything if my mind was in the right place, and as tough as the developmental stage was, the benefits far outweighed it,” said Bagga. This proved to work in Bagga’s benefit as he went on to play a major role on the football team but gained valuable experience in a setting he was never once comfortable in. Bagga learned how to adapt, especially joining a team where their starting junior line-up was already made two years prior.
Entering his senior year still ranked number one, Bagga’s goal had been achieved when they announced the 2025 top ten list, valedictorian, and valedictorian during a high school assembly. Upon learning of his new title, Bagga began to realize the unique pressure people began to put on him, a way that almost felt like he “can’t mess up or make mistakes.”
A common misconception that he’s also learned is the way those around him believe that Bagga has got his life together and “all figured out.” While it took him to overcome these sayings, Bagga had to remember that he’s just human.
“At the end of the day, we all have our own specialties and our knowledge varies across different fields, nobody really has it all figured out as we’re continually building upon ourselves each day.” stated Bagga. He found that the best way to move on was to not play the comparing game, focus on his own path and celebrate the accomplishments, big or small.
As Bagga finishes his last week of high school and finalizes his graduation speech, he looks back on the little moments that made high school special. His friends, family, and support he’s gotten. Bagga plans to go on and study mechanical engineering, where he’s been given a huge opportunity to study what he loves. When asked what advice he would give his 14-year-old freshman self, Bagga replied with “the discomfort you find from making mistakes early on in the process of learning new things or picking up new skills is minuscule compared to the growth you get out of it.” If we could all learn one thing about Bagga, learn to live in the moment.
Congratulations Bagga, for all of your accomplishments. The hard work has truly paid off! Bagga will speak at the Class of 2025 graduation ceremony on May 28, 2025.
