Roslyn High School senior Allison Bichoupan spent the last day of her winter break last month riding a school bus 18 hours from Florida to New York with her principal, Scott Andrews, and the school’s marching band.
When she returned to school the next day, Bichoupan was called into Andrews’ office to be informed she was the Class of 2014’s valedictorian.
“At first I didn’t know why they called me down to his office,” Bichoupan said, “and then when I got there, he held up one finger and I got the message.”
But Andrews wasn’t finished giving out good news.
He later called senior Joshua Loria into his office to tell him he would be the class’s salutatorian.
“I was nervous because on a typical day, I’m not usually called down to the principal’s office with no explanation of why. I thought I was getting into trouble,” Loria said. “Then he said, I have good news and that I was the salutatorian, and I said, ‘Well, that’s awesome.’ I was very excited. I am very excited.”
School officials confirmed Bichoupan as the valedictorian and Loria as salutatorian on Thursday. They did not disclose their grade-point averages. Roslyn does not calculate class rankings.
Bichoupan and Loria were each notified recently that they were among Roslyn’s four finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, alongside classmates Brendan Seidman and Hae Su Shin.
“It’s nice to be recognized for the hard work I’ve put in over the years,” said Bichoupan, who was accepted to Cornell University on early admission to study animal science in hopes of becoming a veterinarian. “Roslyn is a great district with students who have had a lot of success. To be at the top of the class is really incredible.”
Bichoupan is the president of Roslyn’s Math Club, Key Club and Model Government. She has also been the flute captain of the marching band for the last two years.
She said she was also considering Dartmouth College, Middlebury College and Williams College.
“I had an assumption that I was at least in the top 10 percent of my class and people were bringing it up, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure because I never really paid attention to how other people were doing,” Bichoupan said. “Cornell was special to me because my dad went there and because I want to be a vet and it has an incredible science program.”
Loria, a member of the National Honor Society and World Language Honor Society, is the current treasurer of Roslyn’s Organization of Class Councils, or student government. In his freshman and sophomore years, he served as class president.
He is also the president of the school’s Stock Market Club, the executive business editor of the high school’s Hilltop Beacon newspaper and a volunteer firefighter with the Roslyn Highlands Fire Department.
“I was ecstatic [to learn I was the salutatorian],” said Loria, who plans to study management and entrepreneurship this fall at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. “I knew it was possible just because I have classes with a lot of the students who are up there. But it was very, very close.”
Bichoupan and Loria will each give brief commencement addresses to their classmates, families and members of Roslyn’s faculty and administration at graduation.
“I have not given much thought to what I’m going to say yet, but I have definitely been thinking about that moment, for sure,” Bichoupan said. “I’m the last one to speak, really, so I have some really tough acts to follow.”
Loria said that while he is comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people, he thinks he will be nervous on graduation day.
“It’s an honor and I definitely want to make the speech worth it and exciting and funny, something that reflects how great of a class we have and how great the last 12 or 13 years have been for us,” Loria said.
