Carrie Underwood has earned every accolade that the music world can bestow. Her albums have sold millions of copies, she has legions of devoted fans, and her popularity is peerless. Plus she won American Idol. But there is something that the "See You Again" singer did not get back in high school that bothers her to this day. And the reason Underwood lost out is because of a quirk in scheduling that she had no control over.
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It's Idol University on 'American Idol' This Season
The theme for season 24 of American Idol is Idol University. During the show on February 2, judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and Underwood were looking back at their own school days, per TV Insider. Richie and Bryan made fun of their paucity of academic achievement. However, Underwood mentioned something that nags at her a lot, even now that she is a bona fide superstar.
Underwood Was Ranked Second in Her High School Class
The beloved singer was the salutatorian of her senior class at Checotah High School in Oklahoma. That alone is quite an accomplishment. But Underwood almost made it to number 1. She said to her two fellow judges, "I was salutatorian. But the only reason I wasn't valedictorian is because two of the classes I needed were at the same time."
She Is a College Grad
In 2006 the year after she won Idol, Carrie Underwood graduated from Oklahoma's Northeastern State University. Per the outlet, she left school for a musical career when she was only three credits from the number needed to graduate. But "NSU granted them to her due to her real-life experience on television during and after American Idol...."
At One Time, Underwood Planned To Be a TV Newscaster
Underwood thought she was headed for a very different career earlier in her life. She was studying mass communications and journalism with an eye to a future as a television newscaster. Five years ago, however, Underwood shared with SiriusXM that even if her professional life had turned out another way, and maybe she was behind an anchor desk, Underwood would not have forsaken singing completely.
"That's what I love to do. For me, I feel like it was less about the lights and the TV stuff. I felt like it was more about being able to sing. I could do that anywhere, anytime."
