Meet Rye High School’s Valedictorian: Alda Pontes

Nearly 200 students will graduate from Rye High School on Saturday, but only one of them has earned the school's highest honor.

Alda Pontes, 19, is this year's valedictorian.

Alda, who will be attending Yale University in the fall, has immersed herself in academics and extracurricular activities since coming to Rye High School as a sophomore.

Her hectic schedule includes balancing AP courses and playing on the Varsity volleyball team. In her spare time, she's tutored elementary and middle school students and volunteered at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She also created a UNICEF chapter at Rye High School called "Free the Girls" during her sophomore year. The organization raises awareness and funds to combat female genital mutilation in Africa. "Free Girls" has raised almost $7,000 since it was founded.

Alda's work ethic is apparently a family trait. Her father, Cicero, who works for the Bank of Brazil, came from humble beginnings. He began working at the age of three selling candy in his home village in Brazil. At seven-years old, Cicero, whose town had no running water, lugged jars of water on his back, selling them to help support himself and his family. He began working full-time during the day at 14-years old and went to middle and high school at night.

"I know I have not had as many hardships as that, but my parents hammered that story in my brain," Alda said. "After hearing that, I knew there was no limit."

Her father's job with the Bank of Brazil has taken Alda and her family all over the world. She has lived in Rye on three separate occasions and moved back here from Tokyo three years ago. She has also lived in Brazil, China, Australia and other parts of Europe and Asia.

At Yale, Alda plans to study economics, a subject she studied during a summer program at Harvard.

"After that I literally fell in love in economics," she said. "Mathematics is just a natural passion for me. It's something I've loved since I was little."

Alda said she hopes to work in the business or financial sector one day, either in investment banking or at a hedge fund. She said she hopes to earn her Ph.D in economics and have a second career in academia.

Alda, who was also accepted to Harvard, Stanford and Darmouth, said she chose Yale for its great sense of community and because she thought she would get more guidance and attention from her professors.

"It is undeniably the place I'm going to be happiest," she said.

She credits both her family and the teachers and guidance staff at Rye High School for being an integral part of her success.

"Every single teacher is passionate and loves the subject they teach. That passion rubs off on the students," she said.

She said the school's guidance staff is "absolutely, undeniable stellar. They inspire you and give you hope that the best is going to happen for you."

Alda said incoming Rye seniors should work hard and embrace the college process, but most importantly, undertake all their endeavors with a zeal that will push them to succeed even in the most difficult times.

"Be passionate about what you do," she said. "In my opinion, it will take you further than simple hard work on its own."