Herricks top scholars weren’t competitors

Richard Tedesco

Herricks High School valedictorian Sachit Singal and salutatorian Esther Chen say they never felt like they were competing with each other or their classmates to achieve top academic honors.

“It certainly was a moment of pride and achievement,” Singal said. “But being valedictorian was nothing I felt I was entitled to or worked for.”

Chen said becoming salutatorian was a “validation” of her academic work, but not a goal.

“I never put any pressure on myself for that. By working as hard as I did, I’m proud of what I accomplished,” Chen said.

Both Singal and Chen are National Honor Society members and AP Scholars with Distinction. Both have been students in the Columbia University Science Honors Program since 2012.

Chen was a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist this year. Singal was a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search for his work over seven weeks at Stony Brook University with professor Iwao Ojima to synthesize a compound to inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

Both students, who’ve known each other since first grade at the Denton Avenue School, see their futures in similar fields. Singal is enrolled in an eight-year medical program at Brown University this fall. Chen is going to Cornell University, aiming at a career in either medicine or health care.

Apart from their affinity for science, the two good friends are also both accomplished musicians. Both are Tri-M Music Honor Society members and players in the Herricks High School Chamber Orchestra. Singal is a violist. Chen is a violinist. 

Both started learning their respective instruments in grade school and see music as a vital part of their lives.

“There are a lot of things music can cure. It was something very essential to my growth as a student,” Singal said. “If it wasn’t for my participation in music, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

Chen said for her, practicing in the chamber orchestra was “a pause” in her academic day at Herricks.

“It’s not as stressful. You get to focus yourself in a different way. You can be yourself and play your heart out,” she said.

They both found the experience of the Herricks music department’s April trip to Disney World in Orlando as a special bonding experience for the 120 students who went. Singal said most of the students were good friends already, but there was something special about playing in a venue so different from their high school.

“You’re having the greatest day in your life, while you’re watching kids having the greatest day in their lives too,” Singal said.

Chen said she met underclassmen she probably would never have become acquainted with otherwise.

“Disney helped bring us closer together,” Chen said. “Being away from school allows everyone to become tighter.”

The two also credited Herricks High School for the opportunities offered in academics and extracurricular activities.

“Every member of this Herricks community help create this environment for students like me and Esther who want to achieve,” Singal said. “Teachers care about their students and what they’re doing.”

Chen agreed, saying, “It has so many opportunities. It allows its students to really participate in what the student dictates.”

Apart from his work in science research, Singal is president of the Herricks Men’s Choir, co-editor of the Herricks Highlander newspaper and has contributed pieces to the high school literary journal Opus over the past three years. Chen was features editor and a writer for the Highlander. 

Singal is particularly proud of his accomplishments in the competitive DECA business program as a top 20 finalist in this year’s DECA International Career Development Conference and taking fourth place in this year’s state competition.

He also finished ninth nationally in this year’s History Day competition with a 10-minute documentary he produced exploring the plight of Iranian women during the regime of Ayatollah Khomeini.

Chen said she particularly enjoyed the time she spent during two summers teaching young students in the Herricks summer music program and as a student mentor to young students in the school district.

“They have so much energy and they’re really playful and you have to guide them,” she said.

She also enjoys putting her energy in to Chinese folk dancing outside of school.

And, she said, she has enjoyed the experience of being a helper at Bible Camp for the Church in New York City, a non-denominational Christian group.

“For me, it’s like a more guideline,” Chen said of her faith. “I know I can rely on my faith for answers.”

Both Chen and Singal plan to rely on music in their collegiate routines.

“It has been part of my life for so long, I do want to carry it with me to Cornell,” she said.

Chen plans to join an orchestra at Cornell and Singal said he has looked into a capella singing groups at Brown, where he plans to be a viola soloist.

“I will be the entertainment in my dorm,” Singal said.

Share this Article