Campbell’s Top Students Headed to the Ivy League

’s top two students will both head to Ivy League schools next fall. Connie Lu, Campbell valedictorian, is attending Yale University while Joan Bedinger, Campbell’s salutatorian, will be studying at Princeton University.

Both will be joining their fellow classmates for Campbell’s commencement ceremony Saturday at 7 p.m. at Kennesaw State University’s Convocation Center.

Lu and Bedinger are both enrolled in Campbell’s International Baccalaureate program and their families were beaming with pride when they learned they were the top two in their class.

“They were really, really proud,” Lu said. “We’re a really close family. My sisters, one of them is only a year older than me and the other one is three years older than me, so we’re all really close and they were just really excited for me. It’s really nice having support and everything.”

Bedinger said her family was pleased, but encouraged her not to put off writing her speech.

“Honestly, I’m not the best time manager,” she said. “When I came into IB everyone said, ‘Well, you’ll learn not to procrastinate because if you procrastinate you won’t make it through.’" 

Despite being a self-proclaimed procrastinator, Bedinger beat the odds and then some coming out second in her class of almost 500 students.

Lu described the IB program in her own words.

“IB is a program where you take pretty much the core subjects, but it’s kind of focused in a way,” she said. “You take history. You take math. You take science. And for the sciences you chose between biology, chemistry and physics. I chose physics. At our school they offered econ or art for your sixth subject and I chose art, but with all of that they’re all kind of interrelated. We kind of bring in stuff from other subjects and then we have a class called theory of knowledge, which is kind of learning how we know stuff. While were learning about that we kind of focused on all the different subjects again and figured out how we learned about those subjects.”

Both girls are zoned for schools in Marietta, but chose to attend Campbell for the IB program.

“I really enjoyed my time at Campbell,” Bedinger said. “I chose to go to Campbell for their magnet program rather than Walton my district school and I’m really glad about my decision. I had some really wonderful teachers and I really enjoyed being part of the IB community.”

Lu chose to enroll in the IB program over the other magnet programs in Cobb County for its more rounded approach to learning.

“I was choosing between IB or going to Wheeler or Kennesaw for their more math/science-based magnet programs,” she said. “The IB program is strong in math and science, but it’s really strong at Campbell in history and literature. Going into high school I couldn’t really write. History wasn’t really my thing either. Then the teachers there they really help you realize your potential, writing and everything. The teachers are really passionate about their subjects and you really enjoy learning about them.”

While at Campbell, both girls were members of Interact, the junior Rotary Club. Lu also participated in Asian Club, and mock trial before she decided being a lawyer wasn’t for her.

Bedinger was the president of Campbell’s creative writing club, vice president of Amnesty International and a competitor for the math team.

Lu and Bedinger both offered advice to future graduates.

“I would say focus on your studies first, but also be able to balance out,” Lu said. “The thing with procrastinating is then you also lose sleep and that’s just bad for your health. So being able to manage your time is important, but also not pushing yourself too hard because you can only do so much.”

Bedinger advised younger students to live passionately.

“I’d say that it’s important to follow their passion,” she said. “I guess that’s kind of hackneyed advice, but I think it’s really important. Like if you’re just doing things because you feel obligated to or you just want to fill something up, it will show that you’re not really committed to it. So you need to develop your interests. You know, I really enjoy writing so I’ve done a lot of writing outside school as well.”

Bedinger’s background in writing will prove useful next fall at Princeton where she plans to explore English and ecology before deciding which area to concentrate on. 

Lu is considering biomedical engineering, but wants to explore other subjects in college.

“I know I want to do pre-med, but with biomedical engineering I know that takes up a lot of credit hours there and I still want to be able to explore different areas,” she said. “So I’m still not sure. I was thinking maybe one of the majors, something like biomolecular physics, so I was thinking about that.”