I’m proud to announce that I was featured in yesterday’s Harlem Valley Times, a local weekly newspaper. It’s a beautiful article about the journey I went through with my amazing friend Maia to earn positions one and two in the academic ranking of our graduating class.
If you’re local, I highly recommend that you get a copy. The paper features Maia and me on the front page with a lovely photo; I couldn’t ask for anything better. If you’re not local, fear not. The article is online here. I really want to thank the article’s author, Jennifer Barry, for doing such a fantastic job.
Although I fully encourage you to read the article on the Harlem Valley Times website, I reprint it here for my own personal archival purposes.
Top students stick together
By: Jennifer Barry, Staff Reporter
06/19/2008
DOVER – After spending most of their high school careers taking similar classes, Dover High School seniors Richard Mondello and Maia Nguyen will be taking the podium together on June 28 as valedictorian and salutatorian to offer their remarks to the graduating class of 2008.
Mondello and Nguyen say that the race between the two of them for the title of valedictorian was a close one.
“In eighth grade we were both voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed,’” said Mondello, valedictorian for the Class of 2008. “So we’ve always been in a friendly competition throughout high school, especially for valedictorian.”
“He ended up winning, though,” said Nguyen, this year’s salutatorian.
As they finish up their last year at Dover, they look back over their years spent in the district.
“Leaving Dover (schools) behind is probably the scariest part of going to college for me,” said Mondello.
“That’s probably the saddest part for me,” said Nguyen. “I think I’m most nervous about the workload in college. And my roommate.”
After this year, Mondello will begin his collegiate career at Tufts University in Massachusetts where he plans to study computer science.
Nguyen will attend Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where she intends to take courses in both biology and secondary education.
“I really look forward to the being able to learn so much in a more specific area,” said Mondello, when asked to project ahead to what college has in store.
Nguyen agreed, adding, “I’m also looking forward to being able to meet new people.”
Having come from a small school, both Nguyen and Mondello have strong ties to their former teachers and fond memories of time spent in Dover.
“There are so many teachers here that I will miss when we leave,” said Mondello. “They’ve left such a strong impact on me. I’ve really loved it here.”
“I’m going to miss Mrs. Watson,” said Nguyen. “And Mr. Rand. There’s really so many, you can’t just choose one or two.”
In addition to their academics, both students have been involved in the extra-curricular side of Dover, as well.
“We were both in Student Council and Senior Honor Society,” said Mondello. “I was the Student Council President for two years and I also did Mock Trial.”
Nguyen has a similar extra-curricular track, with the difference being that she was involved in the music program.
“I loved being a part of the Jazz Band and the Concert Band,” she said.
For Mondello and Nguyen, their past four years in Dover High School have kept them in close contact; they say that they both often look to each other for ideas and inspiration.
Some of their fondest memories, they said, were the pep rallies held at Dover.
During the last two years of their high school careers, the two were in charge of running the event for the entire school.
“We’re there the night before, making sure everything is set up and ready to go,” said Mondello.
“The pep rallies were always awesome,” said Nguyen. “That’s a time you really get to see the true colors of the school come out.”
Now as the year comes to a close, both Mondello and Nguyen are gearing up for their roles in the upcoming graduation.
“Coming from a small school, the top students tend to stick together,” Mondello said.
“We’re so used to bouncing ideas off of each other,” Nguyen added. “So right now we’re trying to work on our speeches, but we don’t want to influence each other. That’s making it really tough.”
Even if they succeed in keeping their speeches from affecting each other’s, the rest of Dover will get the opportunity to see if great minds do think alike.
Mondello and Nguyen will present their speeches at the Dover Graduation on June 28 at 10 a.m.
