CLASS OF 2024: Pine Bluff High School valedictorian plans to become veterinarian

This is the sixth entry in the Class of 2024 series.

Even though Tamara Tate didn’t grow up with pets, she discovered at an early age how to make them feel at ease.

“My sister’s husband brought home this kitten one day,” she said. “It was scared. It was always under the furniture because it was in a new environment. I used one of the toys to get it from under the couch, and I kind of forced it to get used to me. But after that, every time I came to visit, it would come straight to me and cuddle up with me.”

Little did the kitty know it was embracing the valedictorian of Pine Bluff High School’s class of 2024.

Tate finished at the top with a 4.2 grade-point average and will lead her classmates into the Pine Bluff Convention Center arena for graduation at 7 p.m. Friday. For college, she’ll major in biology at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff so she can become a veterinarian.

“I didn’t grow up around animals, but when I went to anyone else’s house or anything like that, I would see theirs and I would always want to play with them,” Tate said, adding her parents never got her a pet. “This way, if I’m a veterinarian, I can be around animals all day.”

One thing Donald and Chandra Tate did give their daughter before the start of her senior year is a blue, 2023 Chevrolet Camaro. Tamara, the youngest of five, was going to receive the Camaro her father had given her mom for their 10th wedding anniversary in 2013, but it was totaled in a hailstorm.

Even PBHS Principal Ronnieus Thompson teases Tamara about giving her a ride in the vehicle, but Thompson is serious about the praise she gives her valedictorian.

“Tamara Tate is an exceptional student. She is graced and well poised,” Thompson said. “She is respectful and loves God. She is an all-around student. She is a part of the cheer team, softball, and several other clubs and organizations. She also received the McLarty Scholarship as well as won Ms. Debutante. … She is an All-American girl and student, and I am super-proud to have been her principal.”

Donald and Chandra Tate have been the secret to their youngest one’s academic excellence, Tamara says.

“Back when she was in the seventh grade, she made a C and she started crying and crying because she was used to making A’s,” Donald Tate said. “From that point, we kept pushing her and pushing her and she made A’s the rest of the way.”

Tamara thrived academically despite not having many study habits, by her own admission.

“If I learned it in class, usually I’d be able to remember it,” she said. “I know I’ll need to learn some study habits for college.”

Like practicing how to solve problems in math, her favorite subject.

“It’s not the easiest, but it is my favorite because working with numbers is something that I like,” she said. “But I do like animals more. They’re easier to work with than anything else.”

When not making A’s or calming pets’ fears, Tamara played on the Quiz Bowl and softball teams for four years and was on the pom squad for two years. She recently sang soprano in a high school choir that won first prize at a festival in Chicago.

“For the competition, we just needed to do what we needed to do,” she said. “After that, we went to Six Flags and had a little fun.”

Tamara probably would have made good grades even without the extra nudge from her parents, she believes, but maybe not become the first valedictorian in the family. Donald and Chandra will be invaluable resources for her when she continues her academic journey on The Yard.

“They are my biggest motivators,” Tamara said.