Arianna Ragusa said when she entered New Hyde Park Memorial High School in seventh grade the seniors told her and her classmates the years would go by quickly.
“I said, ‘It can’t possibly go by that fast,'” Ragusa said. “But now that we’re here I’m excited to move on but also definitely going to miss it.”
Ragusa is this year’s valedictorian of the graduating class. She’ll be attending St. John’s University in the fall and said she plans on studying chemistry.
Like Ragusa, this year’s salutatorian, Saumya Sharma, said she’ll miss her time in the high school.
Sharma, who will be attending Cornell University next year as part of the Dyson Program, said it’s sad to think of all she’ll be leaving behind.
In addition to her schoolwork, Sharma was captain of the varsity girls tennis team, president of french club, and a member of mathletes and science olympiads.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Sharma said. “Even though there’s so much I’m leaving behind, there’s so much I can do at Cornell – stuff I’ve never done before like kayaking or even something I’ve never heard of.”
As part of the Dyson program, part of Sharma’s credits will go toward business and the part toward her major, applied economics management.
She said the program gets to combine a lot of what she was involved in and interested in while at New Hyde Park Memorial, such as science research and Model U.N.
“I have a wide variety of interests, so to me it came down to trying to combine all those interests into something I like,” Sharma said.
Ragusa’s classes at New Hyde Park Memorial also helped influence her future major, she said.
Ragusa said she’s always been math and science oriented, and loved both her tenth grade chemistry class and the AP chemistry class she’s currently enrolled in.
“It’s really interesting seeing how everything works and something I’d like to learn more about,” Ragusa said.
In addition to her schoolwork, Ragusa has been on the twirling team since seventh grade.
Another big part of her life is dancing, which she takes outside of school and helps teach to younger kids.
Ragusa is also part of an out-of-school archery team.
Ragusa said it was interesting finding time to balance all of her activities but she found the time since she enjoyed them.
“It was also a lot of late nights,” Ragusa said.
While she may not have time for all of them in the future, Ragusa said she wants to continue dancing on teams at St. Johns and possibly continuing to teach, too.
