Despite the unusual end to their final year of high school, Sewanhaka High School valedictorian Ann V. Saji and salutatorian Jordan S. Shamoun expressed excitement, albeit tinged with apprehension, at graduating in June.
Saji, who will attend Stony Brook University in the fall, where she will major in computer science, and Shamoun, who plans to study physics at Vassar College, credited Sewanhaka with preparing them for life after graduation.
“It exposed me to a lot of different experiences, such as volunteering and offering my service to other people through clubs and honor societies,” explained Saji. “Also the community outreach programs, like in the library there’s volunteer help during the summertime. I usually help out in the kids section.”
“It has definitely provided me with a decent amount of opportunities to take classes that have challenged me to push myself to my limits,” Shamoun said. “Also since Sewanhaka has a lot of different activities, it has helped me to better manage my schedule. Everyone always says that time management is this huge skill that you need in college, and I think that through my involvement in school activities I’ve been able to learn that.”
Saji has been involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities throughout high school, including Green Club, Service Club, Chess Club and World Cultures Club. She is also a member of the World Language, English, Science, Math and Career and Technical Education Honor Societies.
Saji said that some of her favorite memories of high school are tied to the clubs and organizations she was a part of.
“The induction dinners for our World Language Honor Society are really memorable,” she said. “It’s a really big party at New Hyde Park Inn. Everybody’s there, and there’s music and dancing and it’s really fun.”
She also looks back fondly on her experiences volunteering with her classmates.
“Also, every Christmas, the [World Language] Honor Society creates boxes filled with gifts through the Toys for Tots program for children who are unable to receive gifts from their own families,” she said.
Shamoun has been on the varsity soccer team since 2016 and served as captain for the past two seasons. She was also in the school’s marching band and jazz band, as well as Science Olympiad. In addition, Shamoun was a member of the Science, Math, English and World Language Honor Societies.
Some of her best memories are with the people she got to know through these activities, Shamoun said.
“I think that a general moment that’s always been the one I’ve looked forward to most is having those small personal moments with classmates and teachers, and bonding over small things, whether it was during soccer and we had a weekend practice or game and we just got to have fun together, or jazz band and we had a performance on a Tuesday at 8 p.m., and it’s so random, but we all just showed up and had fun,” she commented.
She recounted one particular experience that stands out in her mind.
“I remember one time for Science Olympiads, we stayed at the school until after 12 a.m. preparing, and we had to be at the competition at 6 in the morning. I didn’t get to sleep until 2 a.m., but we all agreed the next day when we were leaving the competition around 5 p.m., ‘that was great, I’d do it again next year.’”
The best moments of high school are those moments, the random ones, the unexpected ones, she added. “Those are the ones I’m going to look back on the most,” she said.
Despite moments such as these, the coronavirus pandemic has clouded what should have been a period of celebration.
“It’s been pretty tense,” Saji said of the past couple of months.
“I might be doing remote learning for college as well, so I have to adjust to that,” she commented.
Saji added that her mother is a nurse, so the COVID-19 crisis has hit particularly close to home for her.
Shamoun said that the past several weeks have been “somewhat rough” for her as well.
“There have been ups and downs,” she said. “I think it’s been really hard to come to terms with having to let go of all my high school experiences, my teachers, the friends that I’ve made, without actually seeing them in person. I’d always intended to say in-person goodbyes, and it’s been very hard to adjust to this new way of having to let go.”
There are things that she had been looking forward to learning or experiencing in the classroom that cannot be replicated virtually that she is sad to miss out on, said Shamoun.
She added that there has been one bright side to learning from home, however.
“It has brought me closer to my family,” she said. “I do spend more time with them now, which is kind of nice before going away, seeing as I won’t be living with them in the fall.”
Saji said that it still feels unreal that she is graduating in a matter of weeks.
“I feel relieved that I’m actually graduating,” she said. “It felt so far away, but it came really fast.”
Shamoun said she looks toward graduation with “equal amounts excitement and anxiety.”
“It’s very hard for me personally to go through change,” she said. “I kind of like things staying the same, and graduating is this huge change.”
“But I’m also excited because I know that there’s so much I haven’t experienced yet,” she added.
“I’m excited to take care of myself and learn what works for me, meet new people, go to places alone or with people who have come from various walks of life. It’s really exciting to have this whole new environment. But the anxiety of it has become even worse during coronavirus times because I haven’t been able to let go yet. But i still am looking forward to it.”
