HGHS Valedictorian Jiyuan Wu: Try New Things

CHAPPAQUA, NY — This year's valedictorians in the Chappaqua school district are an extraordinary group of young people. Patch asked them to answer a few questions about their high school experience and what they look forward to in the future.

Today, meet Jiyuan Wu.

1. What will you miss most about high school?

Hands down, the best thing about high school is friends. Through the four years, I found who my true friends were, and met a handful of new ones, too. I'll miss being able to see them on a daily basis, though I know we'll keep in touch.

2. What are you looking forward to in moving on to college?

I'm going all the way across the country to California, so I'm excited for the change of scenery. The west coast seems like a fresh start, and with that, comes many new opportunities.

3. What was your favorite high school class?

Writing and Communications was my favorite class. This class was dedicated to mastering expository writing, and I loved it, because it was all about taking the "rules" of writing like paragraphs, punctuation, and even full sentences, then bending and manipulating writing to defy those rules in a way that made an impression and still composed a good piece of work.

4. What clubs or extra-curricular activities were you involved in?

I was the Director of Quality Control for the Chappaqua School Foundation Student Advisory Council, Co President of Math Club, and a member of Bunches of Lunches and Science Olympiad. I was also a captain of Cross Country and a part of Track and Field.

5. What advice would you give to underclassmen?

Try new things!!! And don't be shy -- trust me, no one is looking and no one cares, and even if they did, it'll hardly matter by the time you graduate. High school is full of activities that you can take part in, and regretting not joining them out of self-consciousness is a shame.

6. Any teachers/staff who stood out throughout your journey?

Mr. Prignano, who I had for Chemistry both sophomore and junior, is an amazing teacher. He always impressed me with the efficiency of his note packets and slides, and kept class interesting with jokes and funny analogies. Not only that, but he's an amazing person as well. Senior, I would often pop into his classroom between classes and chat with him, and even brought in a couple of dilemmas I needed help with as well. He's been continuously supportive, and I hope he keeps on inspiring students -- he's certainly inspired me.

7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In sophomore year, I wrote a speech for a class that was based around a very similar question, although I think 20 years was the time frame. I prepared and researched for a week, and talked for a whole five minutes on how I wanted to be an actuary and explained what my day to day responsibilities would be. What I discovered was that I never wanted to be an actuary, and the thought of following the path I narrated nauseated me. Moving forward, I'll keep my options open. In 10 years, let's keep our fingers crossed that I'll be happy and doing something I could talk for five hours about without tiring.

8. Tell us a fun fact about you.

I pole vault, and have been all throughout high school. I just hit a personal best of 8 feet this season, moving up on the record of Greeley's top 5 female vaulters.

PHOTO/ Chappaqua school district