Valedictorian goes viral for faith-based graduation speech: ‘You are made in the image of God’

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) – A high school senior in South Carolina is going viral for the faith-based speech she gave to her graduating class during their commencement.

Lydia Owens, valedictorian and senior class president at Woodmont High School, shared her hardships and detailed her faith in her graduation speech.

“Even if you accomplish all of your dreams or none of them at all, you are still valuable and you are still good enough because you are made in the image of God,” Owens told her class.

In the three-minute speech, Owens spoke about how her definition of success was redirected two years ago when her mom died.

“When tragedy struck my life, it was not my grades nor my accomplishments that helped me navigate through that loss. When everything else in my life felt uncertain, the only person I could depend on to stay the same was Jesus,” she said in the speech.

In an interview with WHNS, Owens said her mom was her biggest inspiration in life.

“She always pushed me to be my best self and always encouraged me in my faith,” she told WHNS. “She’s the reason that I have such a strong faith. She was the example of how to be a Godly woman and how to love people intentionally.”

Owens will be going to Anderson University in South Carolina in the fall where she plans to major in elementary education.

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