In less than a month, St. Mary’s High School seniors Taylor Wilson and Jaanki Shah will lead their classmates at commencement as the school’s valedictorian and salutatorian, ushering them into the world of adulthood with parting words of wisdom and inspiration.
What will they say? Perhaps they’ll start with some Spider-Man quotes.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” Wilson said Monday with a giggle, repeating the words of Peter Parker’s uncle Ben that framed the philosophy with which the famed web-slinger fights crime in New York City.
Wilson, a Roosevelt resident, said he doesn’t have a valedictory speech ready yet for St. Mary’s June 6 commencement, but rest-assured he’ll come up with something to say onstage at the Tilles Center at LIU Post.
With a 104.72 average at the end of the school’s third quarter, he’ll take his power to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where he plans to study the responsibilities that come with physics and engineering.
“[Being named valedictorian] is a confirmation of my efforts, but I don’t take as much pride in the accomplishment as the steps I took to get there and the skills I acquired along the way,” he said, noting he’d like to work on Wall Street prior to embarking on a science career.
Shah’s journey won’t take her too far away from St. Mary’s campus in Manhasset or her family’s home in Hicksville, as she said she plans to attend New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine toward a combined Bachelor of Science-Doctor of Osteopathic Physician program.
Her plan is to take on the responsibility of being a pediatrician, she said. She said she always liked working with children.
“It’s exciting, but it’s scary in the sense that we have to be adults now,” said Shah, whose average through three quarters was 103.77, about graduation.
Wilson was also accepted at Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Vassar College and Colgate University, among others.
In following through on her plan to stay closer to home, Shah was also accepted to New York University, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the State University of New York at Binghamton, Adelphi University, St. John’s University, Fordham University, Quinnipiac University, the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and York College of Pennsylvania.
Once elementary school classmates at Trinity Lutheran School in Hicksville, Wilson and Shah reunited as high school students at St. Mary’s, starring in the classroom as the Class of 2015’s academic leaders.
“We’re starting a new chapter in our lives, but we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are without the foundation we got at St. Mary’s,” said Shah, who added that even though she is Hindu, her Lutheran and later Catholic education provided her with a sense of objectivity in analyzing religion and free thought.
Wilson, who described himself as a “loosely affiliated” Lutheran, said he appreciates the passion with which St. Mary’s educators approach a typical school day in instilling a love of learning in their students.
“St. Mary’s is unique, because compared to all the other Catholic schools, it’s not enough for you to be able to go home and memorize the material and recite it back,” he said. “At St. Mary’s, you have teachers that are so knowledgeable and excited about their subjects that you feel closer to the things you are learning.”
Wilson and Shah are both members of National Honor Society and the Scholar Science Institute and have volunteered with Project Rebuild.
Additionally, Shah is a member of the Spanish Club, Italian Club and Red Cross Club, and played on both the school’s badminton and tennis teams.
She also volunteers with the school’s mentorship programs, Long Island Cares and in the cardiac unit at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola.
Wilson is also a member of the school’s science olympiad team, volunteers with St. Mary’s campus ministry and at the Neumann Residences for adults with disabilities. He also plays piano, recently began learning the violin, and rides horses.
