The Class of 2024 produced 39 valedictorians, and The Accolade interviewed each to reflect on their high school journeys and thoughts. This is a full version of the Q&A, of which the preview is included in our May magazine issue. Any remaining full-version Q&A will be posted in alphabetical order throughout the week in the Feature section.

Question 1: Which university will you go to?
Answer: Probably Georgia Institute of Technology.

Question 2: Which university will you go to?
A: Computer science.

Question 3: Did you aim for the title of valedictorian from the beginning of your high school career?
A: Yeah, it was one of my freshman-year goals to be the valedictorian.

Question 4: What is the No. 1 piece of advice you would give to other students who also plan to become valedictorians?
A: Don’t take it too seriously; at the end of the day, sometimes things might not work out your way, but either way just strive for being as good as you can be. And really make sure not to compare yourself to other people because it gets really toxic, so always just compare yourself to yourself. And in that way, you’ll become the best version of yourself that you can be.

Question 5: Did you ever encounter any academic setbacks in your high school career, and how did you overcome them?
A: I didn’t really have any setbacks.

Question 6: What were your most memorable experiences at school?
A: I think my most memorable experiences were in ASB [Associated Student Body]. I think creating this community, fostering this community, running events and becoming a part of this family has kind of given me a lot of value as a person. And that’s definitely the most memorable thing in high school. I’d also say eSports club was another really valuable experience because I got to run all the competitive teams and compete myself for four years, so I think that added a lot to my character.

Question 7: How do you think beginning high school through distance learning affected your high school journey?
A: For me it was positive because I’m on my computer a lot, and it helped me learn a lot of different skills; I got really good at programming during that time. And I played a lot of video games, so I got really connected with the eSports club. So for me, it was positive. I also thought school was a lot easier when it was online. So yeah, I think it was definitely positive.

Question 8: What is your biggest regret in high school?
A: I wouldn’t say I have one; I think one of my life philosophies is that you shouldn’t regret anything. … I’m pretty happy with the person I am today.

Question 9: What advice would you give to your freshman self?
A: Don’t take it too seriously. At the end of the day, there are a lot of things that are more important than school like relationships and stuff you do outside of school. Those things are what’s going to be more beneficial to the person you become at the end of high school, so I would say don’t take school too seriously and focus on developing yourself as a whole rather than just being good at school.

Question 10: What were some of your extracurriculars and leadership roles?
A: I was the president of eSports club for my junior and senior year and a member for the other years, I’m the executive secretary for ASB. I’m the vice president of Summer for Youth. I also worked a job as a coding teacher for two years at Code Ninjas, I did research at Chapman University with cryptocurrency and I was on Link Crew. I was on the Cyber Patriots team too and also competed on the League of Legends team at Sunny Hills and I also started a summer basketball league called the Amerige Heights Basketball League — AHBL — over my junior year summer.

Question 11: What was the most rewarding part of being valedictorian?
A: I don’t think it’s that rewarding at all because I don’t think it’s that big of a distinction anymore because of how many there are and also because I think getting one B doesn’t make you any worse than everyone who got that one A. So I think there’s not really any satisfaction to it. It’s just like, kind of a testament to the fact that I worked hard I guess. 

Question 12: What was your favorite class in high school?
A: Definitely [Advanced Placement] Chemistry with Mr. [Andrew] Colomac or AP Calculus BC with Mrs. [Shirley] Tan.

Question 13: Who do you think was a mentor that helped you in your academic journey?
A: I’d say my sister; she went through the whole process of high school and college and all of that before me. She kind of just told me to not think to take things too seriously and to focus on doing things that I care about.

Question 14: What’s something you look forward to when graduating?
A: I’m really excited for college because I think high school gives us this structure where we have to follow this restructured schedule, but in college, we have more time. So I really want to start a company do a lot of different things and see what I can make of myself in the real world.

Question 15: What’s the most important factor in deciding what college to attend?
A: I’d say that one factor obviously is like the prestige of the school, the quality of the school, but I’d say the more important factor for me is the fit — how I would fit among the community and the people there. And also cost; I think cost is the biggest factor that people don’t consider.

Question 16: How did you feel when you got accepted into whatever colleges and universities accepted you?
A: Obviously, it’s like really exciting when it happens, but after the fact, it kind of goes away. And I’d say, 2-3 days after the acceptances I don’t really feel it anymore, and life kind of just goes on.

Question 17: What advice do you have for future and current freshmen?
A: I’d say the most important thing is being authentic. I think doing things that you actually care about rather than doing things for like college apps or some external goal is way better because if you’re doing things because you want to do them, like 10 times out of 10 you will go way further, and then at the end of the day, let’s say you don’t get into college you want to get into, it’s not the end of the world because you still did things that you like doing.