VIDALIA — When Trista Demby brought her first report card home in the first grade, she had straight A’s. When she brings her last one home after graduation this week, it will read the same way, as has every report card she’s ever received.

The 18-year-old student will graduate as valedictorian of Vidalia High School this Friday, but she admits that getting there hasn’t always been easy.

“It has been hard, but I strive for excellence, Demby said.

That’s an attitude that seems to have worked its way all the through her school ethic.

When she wasn’t studying to keep her grades up, Demby was the captain of the dance team, a member of Beta, on the student council, the Homecoming queen and voted most intellectual.

“I am ambitious, and I don’t like to fail, so I try my hardest at everything to do my best at everything,” she said.

The only decision she has waffled on is where she will go to college.

She’s narrowed the list down to five of the colleges that have accepted her — Howard University in Washington, D.C., Tuskegee University in Alabama, Louisiana State University, Jackson State University and Alcorn State University.

“It’s a hard decision, but I think I have narrowed it down to the ones that are closest to home,” she said.

But she’s no stranger to college.

Last summer, she participated in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Program at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, an experience Demby said she thinks helped her develop discipline for the future.

“It taught me that you still have to do work even when all the people around you are doing a lot of other things,” she said.

When she decides which college she will attend, Demby will study accounting.

“I like managing things, and I am good at managing my own money,” she said.

Demby said that after graduation, she might get a job for the summer.

“But I might take a break from the hard work,” she said.

Trista is the daughter of Clint and Cynthia Dixon.