Valedictorian Matthew DeCesare and salutatorian Pooja Patel recently spoke with The Sun about their academic accomplishments.
The Sun recently spoke to the Cherokee High School Class of 2017 valedictorian Matthew DeCesare and salutatorian Pooja Patel about their academic accomplishments.
Below are two interviews with the students about their achievements and future plans.
Valedictorian Matthew DeCesare:
When Matthew DeCesare was finishing his freshman year at Cherokee High School, his older brother Mark was walking the field at Cherokee Stadium as valedictorian for the Class of 2014.
Three years and many hours of hard work later, DeCesare now follows the same path as Cherokee’s valedictorian for the Class of 2017.
With nothing but Cherokee’s highest-level honors and AP classes in his schedule from freshman through junior year, and only one lower level accelerated class as a senior, DeCesare’s weighted GPA sits at 6.0.
“I think it’s mostly about work ethic,” DeCesare said. “People always think I’m some sort of Albert Einstein, and while I’m not going to say anyone could do it, I do think once you have a certain level of knowledge and skill it comes down to work ethic.”
While DeCesare said his older brother’s accomplishments certainly provided motivation from time to time, ultimately he attributes his high grades to his drive to get into a good school and set himself up for a successful future.
“For me, I was focused on getting the best opportunities for myself in the future,” DeCesare said. “There are other ways, such as sports and clubs and leadership positions, but I just figured good grades was the best way for me. I’ve always had high aspirations for myself and figured why not start in high school.”
DeCesare said he was excited to learn about earning the spot as this year’s valedictorian, but his main focus has always been college, so much of the celebrating has come from his family.
“They probably were more excited than I was,” DeCesare said. “This year, I was really worried about getting into the school I wanted, and once that happened, I would have been happy with whatever came after that.”
When he wasn’t studying and completing schoolwork, DeCesare said he spent his time like other typical teenagers by watching sports, playing in recreation leagues and hanging out with friends.
DeCesare said for a period he was leaning toward a career in engineering, but during his senior year, he settled on something more people-oriented with a degree in business, specifically behavioral economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“It wasn’t easy, but it’s fulfilling,” DeCesare said. “There’s not a part of me that regrets doing all the work I did. I’m really happy.”
Salutatorian Pooja Patel:
Getting good grades has been important to Cherokee High School senior Pooja Patel throughout her high school career.
So with years of hard work and dedication leading up to her senior year, she thought she had a decent chance at getting grades high enough to rank within the top 10 members of her class.
Yet even Patel didn’t see her hard work as paying off as well as it has, with Patel earning the spot as salutatorian for the Class of 2017.
“I didn’t think I would rank that high, but I was excited when I found out,” Patel said as she recalled learning about the distinction she earned. “In the first semester when people were talking, I knew I could make the top 10, but I didn’t think I would be salutatorian, so when I found out, it was a shock.”
Patel said schedules during her freshman, sophomore and junior years were filled with Cherokee’s highest-level honors and AP classes, with Patel taking her only lower level accelerated class as a senior.
Patel said achieving high marks and doing well came easy to her with certain classes she favored, such as sciences and math, while other classes she had to work hard at.
Patel said she balanced her time between hanging out with her friends on the weekends and focusing on her classwork during the week.
“There were times where fun things were going on where I had stay home and work or study, so it was a decent amount of time, but not all that much,” Patel said.
Patel said much of her work ethic comes from her parents, who instilled in her the desire to perform well academically.
“My parents wanted me to get good grades,” Patel said. “If my parents hadn’t wanted it, I probably wouldn’t have tried quite as hard. If I had gotten a B grade instead of A grade, I might not have worried, but my parents cared. That drive just carried on through high school.”
Patel will attend Rutgers University–New Brunswick, where’s leaning toward studying biology or finance.
“I already went to my orientation and it seemed like there were going to be different opportunities and different experiences,” Patel said. “I’m excited.”
