A few weeks before graduation, we approached Class of 2023 Valedictorian Sulamita Voronko and Salutatorian Brady Engel to share their plans for beyond high school and their insight for both their peers and incoming 9th graders as the future unfurls.
Sulamita Voronko
Valedictorian
When you think about your speech, what do you think you're going to cover? I haven't thought about it much but I'm definitely going to recap my four years here. I'm going to thank everyone who got me to this point. Probably going to mention my parents. I don't know. I’ll just talk about high school.
How do you feel the last four years have shaped your way of viewing the world? In particular, I would say my AP Bio class. It's specific, but definitely, my AP Bio class has made me want to become a doctor. Not that that shapes my world but to kind of answer your question. But in four years, I've made some really good friends and like really close friends. I've learned a lot.
Did you know that you wanted to go into doctoring when you were in 9th grade? I thought about it because I've always been leaning towards more science and math type of stuff and I've always wanted to be a doctor. I don't know. But ever since taking biology, I decided that I really do want to be one.
Where are you going [after high school]? I am going to Hudson Valley Community College at first. I'm doing a respiratory therapist program which is a two year associates program. And then after that, I want to continue schooling.
What's the long term goal after Hudson Valley? I don't know. I'm completely not sure. I want to go to Binghamton University.
Is there a teacher who influenced you the most? Yes. Mr. Miller.
What did Mr. Miller do? His class - out of all of my classes - that class was definitely the most rigorous. It was the only one I could not have a single assignment late. I had to genuinely just complete all of my work on time. So it kind of taught me that.
What message do you have to pass on to incoming 9th graders? Time management is very, very important. I struggle with that a lot. … I'd say study a lot. I spent so many hours at the library. It's embarrassing, you know? That was more recently though.
Make a couple of close friends. I just have three really good friends and then I just talk to them…. They're all smart, which helps me because they keep me on track with studies and everything else.
Howard “Brady” Engel IV
Salutatorian
When you think about your speech, what do you think you're going to cover? I want it to be, you know, funny, but I also need it to have some kind of meaning. I want to speak to my classmates when I'm up there talking and give them something to look forward to for the rest of their lives, and give them a kind of motivational speech. I guess so. Yeah.
Now, how have the last four years shaped your view of the world? Oh, wow. Well, I guess it's really just shown me how far I can get if I keep persevering and trying my hardest, always. What happens when I don't do that and slip up and stuff. I mean, I don't know if I was ever No. 1, but I was not always No. 2. Just these past two years, especially, I've been really trying to push through it. Get a jump start on everybody else after COVID. So, I think it's just showing me that I can do what I want to after high school if I put my mind to it.
When you were entering high school in 9th grade, did you have an idea of what you wanted to be after high school? Well, ninth grade. As a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut but I thought that was a little out of my reach. So for a while I wanted to be a pilot and then I wanted to do aerospace engineering, and it was kind of back and forth between those two all throughout high school. But I always knew I wanted to do something in the field of aviation. I just thought the idea was cool and I ended up applying to half of my colleges as professional pilot and the other half were aerospace engineering, and I decided to go with aerospace engineering in the end. So, yeah, I've always had the idea in my mind pretty much.
So that's what you're doing after high school. Where are you going to attend school? I'm going to the University of Alabama and I'm joining the Air Force ROTC there as well. So after my four or five years, then I'll do four years of service, at least. I might stay in. I might not. I don't really know yet.
That will definitely take you where you want to go. Now, is there a teacher who influenced you on this path the most? Sulamita [Voronko] told me she said Mr. Miller, which is annoying because I want to say Mr. Miller, too. I wrote for one of the scholarships [and] I wrote about him as well. Just because, especially my senior year, he's been such a motivation to me. He's honestly always trying to get us to be smarter and push ourselves harder, and learn more. Just in general, I think his class has prepared me compared to any other class I've ever taken. He is a very challenging teacher, but it's good. Good for me.
What kind of message do you have to pass on to incoming 9th graders? I think just not to be so afraid of everyone in high school. I remember coming into high school thinking everyone was bigger, older, scarier than me. But now, being a senior and having all the other seniors be my classmates who I grew up with - it's weird thinking that they might think that about us. So just to not, not be afraid of all that and go out and talk to people.