Herricks’ top two students will both be attending Ivy League schools in the fall on a pre-med track.
Valedictorian Esme Chen, a New Hyde Park resident, is going to Dartmouth College.
Salutatorian Janet Hsu, a Roslyn resident, is going to Yale University.
Chen said she grew up in a family of health practitioners; her father is a doctor and her mother is a nurse.
“Health has always been a fundamental part of my upbringing and is a field that genuinely interests me,” Chen said. “But I don’t want to set myself in a direction if I think I can do something else in a different field that’s also just as interesting.”
Chen is planning to major in computer science while on the pre-med track, with a minor in Spanish.
Chen said she became interested in computer science in the last couple of years, and took AP Computer Science her senior year.
She is also president of the coding club and participated in the Girls Who Code program the summer before her senior year.
The program was held through IBM at the City College of New York campus.
“I think that program was really important to me realizing that I like computer science,” Chen said.
She said she can see herself going down both paths, technology or medicine, in the future – or said she may even find a way to combine them.
While at Herricks Chen was also involved in the school’s music program.
She plays the violin in the school’s chamber orchestra and also plays in different chamber ensembles and festivals.
Chen said she wants to continue playing the violin while at Dartmouth.
Hsu also plays the violin and is part of the Juilliard School’s pre-college program.
She has been involved in the program since fifth grade and goes every Saturday from 9 a.m. to about 7 p.m. to take classes and lessons.
Hsu has tests and homework from Juilliard in addition to her Herricks coursework.
“I usually plan out my whole week,” Hsu said. “It’s a pretty strict calendar of what to do.”
Hsu said she plans to major in biology or mathematics while on the pre-med track at Yale.
She said she has dreamt of being a doctor ever since she watched a Japanese drama as a kid.
“There are people doing heart surgery and I was begging my parents to translate everything,” Hsu said.
As she got older, Hsu realized her dream became more of a realistic career path, she said.
“I want to dedicate my life to helping people,” Hsu said.
Both Hsu and Chen said the announcement that they were the top two in their class came as a shock.
The girls found out over the loud speaker as it was announced to the rest of the students, Principal James Ruck said.
“In a school where there’s a lot of kids who do really well, we’re proud of them,” Ruck said.
Chen and Hsu, who have been in the district since kindergarten, both said Herricks has been a great place to learn and grow.
“I’ve gotten the full journey, and I realize that Herricks is a really great academic institution and also in terms of extracurriculars I’ve been able to grow as a person,” Chen said. “… I think my time here is coming to a close and I’m ready to move on and go to college.”
