This year’s Richmond Public Schools top 2025 valedictorian, Marylord Dansou, is a first-generation American who achieved a 5.3 GPA, reflecting her academic excellence.

“My parents are so excited and proud,” Dansou said. “My mother has always believed in me and knew I’d go far. It’s what she expected of me.”

Dansou will attend Virginia Tech in the fall and major in food science. She’s already earned an associate degree in social science from Reynolds Community College’s Early College Academy (ECA), which offers Richmond Public Schools students to graduate with college credits. Dansou was among only five students in her class accepted into the program.

While English has always been her favorite subject, a biology class sparked her interest in food inequalities within developing countries.

Dansou’s parents are West African—her mother is from Benin, and her father is from Nigeria. Although she has never visited Africa, she hopes to work there someday on micronutrient deficiencies, which occur when the body lacks essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine and vitamin A. These deficiencies can lead to serious health problems such as anemia, impaired immune function and stunted growth.

She hopes to reduce disease and death caused by a sustained lack of these vital nutrients needed for optimal health.

Growing up, Dansou spent a lot of time with her grandmother, who prepared West African dishes for her, such as attieke, fufu and kenkey. Her grandmother’s presence and her mother’s unwavering support have been instrumental in her success.

“My grandmother’s cooking helped me connect with my West African culture,” she said.

Dansou doesn’t credit her academic achievement to her study habits.

“I feel like I’ve always felt that school came naturally to me,” she said. “I didn’t study much until junior and senior year.”

Spending time with friends is especially important to Dansou because her first two years of high school were during the early post-pandemic period, just after social isolation.

Now, she enjoys meeting with friends for ramen and bubble tea. For prom night, Dansou and her friends went bowling and then hung out at the park.

“The goal for prom was to just hang out with my friends,” she said. “I got home at 2 a.m. It’s the latest I’ve ever been allowed to stay out.”

Aside from her academic and social pursuits, Dansou enjoys baking and is a self- described chocolate lover, preferring richer flavors over fruity ones. For fun, she crochets and plays bass.

During the summer, Dansou plans to work at Publix during the week to free her weekends for trips with her friends. They plan to visit Buckroe Beach and the Centreville Aquarium in Northern Virginia.

How do you get a GPA higher than 4.0? Taking college classes in the Advanced Placement Program or Early College Academy at Reynolds Community College. Even if you earn a C in a college class, it is worth the same as an A in a non-honors class, so an A in a college class counts as morethan a 4.0. Also, I would say taking advanced classes as far back as middle school, as I was privileged to be allowed to take eighth-grade math in sixth grade, putting me two years ahead.

What high school do you attend? I attend Open High School and there are 47 people in my class.

What high school extracurricular activities have you participated in? Last year, I did an internship with Groundwork RVA, which led to my senior project with Fit4Kids, where I helped middle schoolers at Lucille Brown Middle School in the garden and greenhouse. I’m in the Black Student Union, and I serve as the vice president of programming for Phi Theta Kappa, an honor society at Reynolds Community College. I also volunteered with Scrap RVA and Bon Secours, and I have a part-time job at Publix Super Markets.

Where were you born? I was born on Jan. 30 in Richmond.

Where do you live? I live in North Side.

How did you react when you found out you were named the valedictorian of your class? I was getting ready to send in my mid-year transcripts when I saw it. I went to my principal’s office to ask if it was a mistake, and it wasn’t. I didn’t jump up and down screaming, as I’m not that kind of person, but I was really happy.

How did you react when you found out you were named the RPS 2025 top Valedictorian? I found out when I was taking the valedictorian pictures. She told me offhandedly as she was looking at the list of valedictorians and salutatorians, but she told me to act surprised when I found out officially. I don’t think my reaction changed. I just kind of smiled. I never expected it. 

How did your family react? My family was excited, and I think my mom screamed.

What will you tell your fellow graduates in your valedictory address? I will most likely talk about the power of our voices and words. I believe change begins to happen when we speak about it.

What scholarship offers have you received? I didn’t apply to many schools because my major is specific, so I don’t have any crazy scholarships from any schools.

Do you have siblings? I have two brothers here in America, Marcus, my older brother, who just graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University for engineering and my younger brother, Samuel,  who is finishing middle school. Senami and Ayomide, my youngest siblings are in Nigeria. I live with my mother, the majority of the time with my younger brother, but I often go to my dad’s house, where my older brother lives.

What school will you attend in the fall? I’m going to Virginia Tech because it was hard to find schools with my major close to home. Virginia Tech is the only school in Virginia offering food science as a major. Also, I be able to do research there sooner than other schools.

What’s your major? Food science.

What are your career goals? I want to go to West Africa to work on micronutrient deficiencies and address neo-colonialism in food and nutrition.

How does a positive outlook impact getting good grades? If you don’t believe in yourself, you can go nowhere. If you believe you can get an A and put the work in, good results will follow.

What motivates you to study and excel? I want to look back and be proud and assured that I tried my hardest.

How much time do you devote to studying? I don’t know how to quantify the time I spent. For me, the best way to study was to do the work and try to apply what I learned in class, which included doing practice questions or making study guides.

What helps you excel academically? I have a pretty good memory, and I am good at understanding what works best for me. I can easily break concepts down into a language that makes the most sense to me, or come up with mnemonics that I know will stick in my head.

What makes a good teacher? One who tries to come up with activities that students can easily relate to. If you have to learn or teach something, why not make it fun?

What’s the secret to earning all A’s? Staying on top of all your work. I try to use apps to keep myself on track.

What advice would you give to your high school freshman self? Don’t stress out so much, it will all work out in the end.

What’s your most unforgettable high school experience? We took a trip to Washington, D.C. my sophomore year. It was nice to go to new places with my friends. It was super cold and I only had a thin puffer on. The food was nice and the ride back at night was genuinely one of the funniest times.

Which teacher influenced you the most? It was Ms. Daniel, my third-grade teacher. I got a C on a grammar test, and she sat down with me and explained the mistakes I made. English is my first language, but growing up in a household where English is not the primary language spoken played a big part in my understanding of the language. When I was in elementary school, my grandma came to America, which meant we only spoke French at home, and even before, if we spoke English, it wasn’t my mother’s first language, which meant that she sometimes made mistakes that we learned from. I think a teacher giving me grace during this period led me to where I am today.

What are three words that best describe you? Strong-willed, relaxed and compassionate.

What would you do with an extra 10 minutes in the day? I’d spend that time reading or listening to music.

Who are the top three artists on your music playlist? B. Smyth, Kendrick Lamar and Kate Bush.

What is something you love to do that most people would never imagine? I love crocheting and photography. These are not that out of the ordinary, but I don’t think it’s something you’d assume by looking at me.

What’s a quote that inspires you? “What’s your life about, enlighten me, is you gon’ live on your knees or die on your feet?” — Lyric from rapper Ab-Soul.

What’s your next goal? To get my bachelor’s in two years.