Valedictorian Lena Street Shares her Hastings Experience

Hastings Valedictorian Lena Street will speak at tomorrow's high school graduation, delivering a speech she says she has written and re-written hundreds of times.

"I sat down to write the speech and kept deleting paragraphs and starting over," Street, who will attend Columbia University, said. "I felt I could hardly give advice to people my own age, but the one thing I did urge all the graduates to do was find what they're passionate about and use it to make the world a better place."

An accomplished violinist, Street said her musical background has contributed to her poise and comfort addressing a large crowd.  She was a member of the prestigious New York Youth Symphony in high school. "Auditions were always nerve-wracking, but once I start to play I always feel much better," she said.

Although there is admittedly no formula for becoming class valedictorian, Street believes her consistent conscientiousness definitely contributed to her academic success.

"I never came to class unprepared and always put school work before anything else," Street said. "That way, by he time a test rolled around, I would already know most of the material."

Something else that undoubtedly helped Street climb to the top of her class was her love of the material. "I enjoy almost all subjects," she said. "That doesn't mean I necessarily wanted to go to class everyday, but the course work always interested me. I think that helped me stay focused."

Having developed a particular predilection for biology, Street pursued a research internship as Mount Sinai hospital last summer, studying the ways in which cells can be labeled so that they show up in an MRI Scan.

"It was research that definitely has practical applications," Street said. "Once you label the cells, you can find where they end up in the body. This can be used in the study of cancer, as an example."

At this point Street would like to become a physician, following in the footsteps of her grandfather who is a surgeon.

Street's father, Brian, was a particularly active member of the Hastings community advocating for the passage of this year's school budget.  Street believes her parents have instilled in her and her three siblings strong work ethics and the desire to succeed.

"When we were younger, our parents would always help us study and come up with ideas for papers," Street said. "Now I do it all on my own, but that support has been really helpful." 

In addition to playing the violin and excelling in all her classes, Street also served as Secretary General of the Hastings-hosted Westchester Model United Nations Conference.

"There are about 500 kids who participate, so there was a lot of organizational work," Street said.  "But it was all worth it in the end to get the chance to debate such topics as: drug smuggling, the environment and human rights with so many other students." 

And Street also served as the school's student liaison to the Board of Education, attending all board meetings—a laudable feat in itself—and taking part in the district's recent search for a school principal. 

"The principal search was a great experience," she said. "It was interesting to learn the process and talk to so many different people."

Though excited for the independence and adventure of going to college in one of the word's most culturally-engaged cities, Street admits she will miss her friends in Hastings.

"I have been part of a close-knit group since pre-school, so it will be hard to leave them," she said, noting that given today's technology it won't be difficult to keep in touch.

"I'm really excited to meet new people at school as well," Street said. "Part of the core curriculum at Columbia is a class on the earliest important literature. I can't wait to share ideas with other students in high-level discussions."