Every year the senior class holds onto hope for the coveted title of valedictorian. Tenafly is filled with students possessing staggering stats, but each year, one student stands out the most. This year, that standout student is Helen Hui (’24). For the students striving to propel their academic journey, Hui has offered some advice that may be surprising but still helpful. Who knows, you may just end up becoming valedictorian too!
The first piece of advice that Hui gave was to not harp over finding a specific “passion.” Many grapple with the idea that “this looks good on my resume” or “I have to have a passion early on and work towards it.” However, she emphasizes the importance of dedicating yourself to something that is simply enjoyable. “I did a lot of things that never even showed up on my resume (research project, art) purely for fun and for trying out what I was good at doing, and I didn’t really settle on my quote-unquote passion or intended major of bioengineering until junior year summer,” Hui said. “Finding something one enjoys doing is important in achieving one’s goals since it could help create a more healthy incentive that’s not just numbers or rankings but rather a more progress-focused goal.”
With school comes a large amount of stress, and being valedictorian definitely does not shield one from this. “I’d rant to my friends about it and we just suck it up, and the old stress disappears once the deadline passes and new ones come,” Hui said. Sometimes the most important thing isn’t to be stressing over a grade but to be taking breaks and handling stress. Hui took a different approach when it came to situations such as this, and it works wonders: “I gaslight myself into thinking: just take a break and it will be fine—worse comes to worse, it’s just a difference of ten or twenty-something points.” This mindset goes along with her idea of shifting goals away from scores and numbers, instead homing in upon other important factors, such as enjoyment and less stress.
Hui also places a lot of emphasis on school spirit, and getting involved with all the programs at THS. “There are a lot of classes that I’d advise taking, like AP Lang and AP Lit, them being two different but equally important English courses,” she said. Aside from actual courses, she also recommends a variety of extracurricular activities. “Joining the clubs in school really helped me meet upperclassmen who gave me good advice,” she said. “Joining the music or school spirit programs—some sort of large … ensemble, from marching band to orchestra to theater to stage crew to SO Reps—I think will help you know a lot of driven people who have similar interests and capabilities as you, and you could make good friends there.”
Along with recommendations for what students should be doing at school, Hui suggests students try and gain opportunities outside of THS. “Applying for the governor’s school scholar program (there’s science, engineering, and language/arts) in the junior year would really be an eye-opening experience for meeting new and talented people and gaining new insights,” she said.
Upperclassmen’s advice is precious and helpful, yet the importance of experiencing different things and fields of interest individually aligns with it. Everyone will have a different path, and every path is unique and valuable just the way it is.
