As the seniors leave in a couple of weeks, ready to attend graduation, go to college and enjoy their freedom, our valedictorian will give one final speech cherishing all the memories that the seniors had.

Q: What steps did you take to be valedictorian?

A: I told myself freshman year that I needed to take a bunch of AP classes, so sophomore year I took five, junior year I took seven, and this past year I took eight.

Q: Did you want to be valedictorian? Why?

A: I wanted to freshman year more than I do now because then I thought I had something to prove. I took all these classes to show myself that I am smart. Now that I think about it, it seems like a waste of time because I know the extent of my own intelligence and didn’t need to spend four years proving something to myself.

Q: What are your passions?

A: My passions are math and science. I’m on the math team here. I’m the captain and coach of the Calculus team and Brain Bowl Team. Math makes me happy; I do it when I’m sad. Sometimes I’ll take a break and practice it to improve my mood.

Q: What are you going to miss most about Plant?

A: I’m really going to miss my friends because with college we’re going to go our separate ways and I’m going to miss the people that I grew up knowing.

Q: What are your favorite and least favorite classes?

A: My favorite class is AP Chemistry from my sophomore year. I just like it because I understood everything that went on in it and everything just clicked along better than any other class. My least favorite class was AP Spanish Lang., because I had no idea what my classmates or the teacher were saying.

Q: What teacher has mentored you the most throughout high school? Why?

A: Definitely Mr. Thomas. He taught me how not only to be a better person, but to find a level of optimism in everything I do, so that I am always happy.” He’s kind of like a second father to me.

Q: Where are you going to collage and what are you planning to major in?

A: Caltech. Chemical engineering.

Q: What is your favorite high school memory?

A: Snorting and laughing under a tree in Dublin this past summer during a school field trip.

Q: What was your biggest contribution to an extracurricular activity?

A: Staying after school to tutor students each week for several hours and several clubs.