Shelbyville Salutatorian ready for new challenges at Purdue University

Whitney Dellinger knows it is time to spread her wings.

The Shelbyville High School Class of 2025 Salutatorian plans to study Accounting at Purdue University. She expects the journey to focus her in on her future.

“I’m not really a big … I didn’t go to a lot of high school games,” explained Dellinger. “When I go to Purdue, I want to branch out and be more social than I am now. My friends are like you are the most introverted one and you are the one going to one of the biggest schools. I want to get more into it.”

Dellinger has met her new roommate from Coatesville, Indiana, but the housing assignment has not yet been finalized.

“Yeah. No,” said Dellinger when asked if she is ready to be a freshman once again. “It’s definitely a lot of nerves but I am excited for the new start. It’s scary to be independent but it also is exciting to start over again. It’s a lot of mixed emotions.”

Dellinger is following in the footsteps of her aunt, who has an Accounting degree from Purdue.

“I am way more into numbers than English and writing,” she said. “I think it plays to my strengths more than anything else. And it’s a good stable career.

“I don’t want to do taxes. (My aunt) does something with compensation and benefits for different companies and hiring people. I think that is more interesting. And there is forensic accounting, fraud stuff seems more interesting to me than just doing taxes.”

Dellinger was always ranked in the top five of her graduating class. She climbed to No. 3 ahead of her senior year and finished second once the final grades were calculated.

“Whenever I found out I was second, I didn’t think when I was third that I could get up to (No. 2) because I knew the people ahead of me were in a lot of AP classes,” said Dellinger. “I didn’t really expect to (climb) because I wasn’t in as many AP classes as them.”

The salutatorian honor comes with giving a speech at graduation in front of more than one thousand people at William L. Garrett Gymnasium.

“It was really, really scary,” she said. “The idea of it was really scary but when we went to graduation practice, I practiced my speech up there after everyone left and I was like I can do this. Then when we walked out for graduation and I saw how many people were there, I was like, ‘Oh gosh.’”

Dellinger leaned on Dr. Seuss for her graduation theme.

“I read his books a lot when I was little and I knew that was something a lot of people could relate to,” she said. “I just went from there.”

Overcoming fear could be Dellinger’s new motto. She stood tall and delivered her graduation speech. And now she is leaving home and her closest friends to begin a new chapter in her life.

“I think (my parents) are excited for me to go,” she said. “I think they will be bored home alone. I know they will come up for some tailgates. And I still plan on going home a little bit.”

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