DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — At 18 years old, Sharrah Stigdon was young, impressionable and ready to take on the world.
As the 1997 valedictorian at Jarrell High School, she delivered a graduation speech just four days before a historic F-5 tornado tragically touched down.
“That was basically the theme of the whole speech is just to step out with your best foot. Live life as best you can,” Stigdon told KVUE back in 1997.
Half of the 27 Jarrell residents who died were her classmates.
“It was the pivotal moment of me truly being aware of how big life is,” Sharrah Pharr said.
Today, Sharrah Stigdon is Sharrah Pharr and she lives in Dripping Springs. Her son just finished fourth grade. She’s married to Jerry Pharr. She’s a professor at Texas State University, teaching the next generation of school principals, and she also works as a consultant for federal and state programs for school districts across the state.
PHOTOS: 1997 Jarrell valedictorian's life since devastating tornado
Her life is full, but she knows it was the tornado that taught her valuable life lessons.
“Our strength is our story, and I have to remind myself of that every day,” Pharr said.
Her story is one of empathy and an understanding of how fragile life can be. She also realizes some days may bring more storms than others.
“The experience of the Jarrell tornado created this deeper sense of awareness, not necessarily of the environmental elements like, 'Oh, there's a storm coming,' but the storms that are inside of us. The tornadoes that each of us carry each and every day, but [that] can't be seen on a weather radar,” she said.
She still remembers the close-knit community where she went to school. She has many memories of being in Jarrell with her classmates.
During a recent sit-down interview with KVUE, Pharr flipped through the pages of her old yearbook. She couldn’t help but wonder who her classmates – like Audrey Igo, who died along with her whole family – could have become.
“As I, you know, I've gone through different chapters of life, I sometimes in my head think, 'So, Audrey, this is what it was like to get married,'” Pharr said, fighting back tears.
But regardless of what her next chapter brings, it’s the life lessons from Jarrell that will stay with her.
“You'll never separate your self-identity from your past. But it's really how you choose it to go forward,” she said.
For all of KVUE's coverage honoring the anniversary of the 1997 Jarrell tornado, visit KVUE.com/Jarrell. Watch our full "Remembering Jarrell: 25 Years Later" special report below:
MORE JARRELL TORNADO COVERAGE: