Senior Matthew Forrest has been named Roslyn High School’s valedictorian for the 2012-13 school year.
Forrest, who lives in Roslyn Heights, has a 105.65 grade point average, which was calculated at the end of the fall semester of senior year. He will attend Columbia and study applied math.
“It’s a huge honor and I’m very thankful to my family and the school community for all the help they’ve given me throughout my years in school,” Forrest said. “It really is a great feeling to be recognized for all the hard work you’ve put in over the years, so it’s a feeling of gratitude and that all my hard work had been recognized.”
Forrest is a member of the school’s National Honor Society and Foreign Language Honor Society, and participated in the school’s Science Olympiad, math team and Model Government club.
He also conducted summer research in immunology at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, participated in the school’s Relay For Life program and regularly volunteers at the Mary Brennan Inn soup kitchen in Hempstead.
Last month, Forrest was named a National Merit Scholarship winner, earning a $2,500 prize for a combination of his academic record, standardized test scores, recommendations and extracurricular activities.
“It takes a great deal of discipline and time management is the biggest thing, as I progressed through school,” Forrest said. “I formed good habits as to how much time to devote to each subject, how much time for studying, how much time I can use to take a break and how I organize myself. For someone who’s not the most organized and kind of a messy person in general, time management is really important and I’ve learned that over the years.”
