Herricks High School valedictorian Derek Chen and salutatorian Nicholas Newsome look toward their post-graduation plans with a mix of excitement and uncertainty.
Both students are AP Scholars with Distinction, National Honor Society members and National Merit Commended students.
Chen will attend Yale University, where he plans to major in mathematics.
During his time at Herricks, he participated in Mathletes for four years, and served as captain during his senior year; Opus, the school’s literary journal, of which he was editor-in-chief for his junior and senior years; and Herricks’ Chinese yoyo team, serving as captain for the past two years.
He was also a medalist in the Long Island Math Fair, was among the top 20 percent of scorers in the Nassau County Interscholastic Math League and serves as a member of the Mathletes core committee that runs activities. Additionally, he has won medals in the Science Olympiad and took first place in the National French Contest.
Reflecting on the past four years, Chen said that his teachers at Herricks supported him not only academically, but emotionally as well.
Some of his favorite memories of high school include his junior year English class and junior year physics class, he said.
“Within each classroom, we developed really tight communities that helped support us and helped us learn,” explained Chen.
Other fond memories include “Battle of the Classes” and math competitions, he added.
“It’s been quite sad not being able to be in school, being able to interact with the excellent community we have in Herricks,” he commented.
Chen added that the senior class has missed out on a lot of events that the students were looking forward to.
“But I think it has been quite heartwarming to see our community coming together virtually as well,” he said. “A lot of people have reached out to each other to organize virtual events, or just to check up on each other. I would definitely prefer to be in school with everyone, but it’s great to see people coming together even in these difficult times.”
Chen said that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted his plans “quite a bit.”
“I think that a big part of the college experience is being on campus, meeting people, being involved in a community. I have started considering taking a gap year, because I do want to be part of a college community in the fall, but that’s still up in the air right now, since I’m still not quite sure what’s happening with my college in the fall,” he explained. “I’m not sure whether it will solely be virtual, or if I will be able to interact with people on campus, which is important to me.”
Newsome will attend Binghamton University in the fall as part of the Honors Program. He will also participate in the Source Project, a research project for students interested in the humanities.
At Herricks, he was involved in Model U.N., serving as secretary general during his senior year; French Club, of which he was president for the past three years; the executive board of Freshman Focus; and Camp Convention, a summer STEM program for grades 3–5 in the Herricks district, where he volunteered as a leadership intern.
Newsome also earned a bronze medal and honorable mention in Le Grand Concours National French Contest, as well as the Gold Presidential Service Award for his community outreach.
Additionally, Newsome is a content creator for an Instagram account with a following of more than 18,000 people that he created for a television show.
He credits his teachers as well as his peers with preparing him for life after graduation.
“I think that being surrounded by a bunch of other students who are so engaged in their work and who really give everything they’re doing their best effort really prepared me, just because when you’re in that kind of environment, you also try your best and are always motivated to do so by your peers and your friends,” he explained. “And also, the teachers have that same love of learning and of teaching, so that environment among my teachers and my peers really prepared me.”
Newsome said that some of his best memories of high school are of his Model U.N. trips.
“We have a lot of fun just doing things outside of the conference, just hanging out, playing games, getting dinner,” he said.
“The moments that bring me the most joy are little ones, just conversations I’ve had with my friends,” he added.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered his mindset, Newsome said.
“I don’t think it necessarily affects my actual structured plans,” he said. “I think more than anything it affects my mindset. I feel like I’ve grown a lot during this entire period because everything has been so disorienting, as it has been for everyone. With senior year being cut short, and college admissions coming out, it’s all been a lot, and it exists in this kind of vacuum.
“I think I’m more aware of the human condition, you could say, of what it means to just live,” he reflected. “I think it affects my mindset and the value I place on things. I think I place a lot more value on the smaller things, on the small victories, because a lot of the time those are the things that really matter.”
Both Newsome and Chen expressed mixed feelings about leaving Herricks.
“It’s scary,” said Newsome. “It’s just weird to think about leaving a place that’s been your home for a long time, both Long Island and also Herricks as a school district. But it’s exciting to be taking that next step in life.”
“On the one hand it’s sad, because I am leaving behind a community I have been a part of for my entire life,” Chen said. “At the same time, I do want to move forward, and I can’t wait to see what the world has in store. I definitely can’t wait to come back home and visit all of my teachers and see how much the Herricks community has grown.”
