Ready to start next chapter of life

Getting an A wasn’t good enough.

For Mary Manship, she had to have an A+, she said.

“School has always been my thing,” she said.

Manship is now co-valedictorian of her graduating class at Greenwood Christian Academy. Next, she plans to attend the University of Denver, and hopes to one day edit books.

As a high school student, Manship saw that some middle school teens needed guidance.

So, she started a book club for middle school girls. About every other week they discuss the adventures of Christy Miller, the protagonist in a Christian-based book series.

Manship excels in English, so starting a book club played to her strengths, she said. She also wanted to help her younger sister, Zoie, and her friends, she said.

When she was in middle school, Manship decided that getting good grades and being at the top of her class would be how she stood out. Getting to, and staying at the top of her class, was how she chose to invest her time in high school, she said.

“I was pretty excited when I found out that I was at the top of my class,” Manship said.

Making the decision to major in English after graduation was an easy one. Manship has always done well in the subject, she said.

But she was inspired to pick her second major in Spanish from mission trips to Costa Rica.

In the last few years, Manship would travel to multiple churches and towns to help minister to the local population. Those trips helped her realize how lucky she was to live in a more developed country, she said.

“It changed me, makes me more thankful for what I have,” Manship said.

By majoring in Spanish, she could keep up with the changing world and use it to help people, she said.

And she recently decided on her career path. She was watching the movie “Elf,” and saw that one of the main characters edits children’s books for a living.

That sounded like the perfect job for her, she said.

“I thought that would be a career path I would enjoy,” Manship said.

So, she looked for a college that had multiple writing paths she could pursue and explore.

Manship originally planned on applying to 13 colleges across the United States, but her parents talked her down.

She cut out all of the colleges that were on the East and West coast, except for a few Ivy League options and the University of Denver, where she plans to attend this fall.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”THE MANSHIP FILE: ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Name: Mary Manship

School: Valedictorian at Greenwood Christian Academy

GPA: 4.0

Parents: Kevin and Abbie Manship

Extracurricular activities: Spanish Club, Book Club

College: University of Denver

Major: English and Spanish

[sc:pullout-text-end]