Congratulations to Walt Whitman High School’s Class of 2023 Valedictorian Anthony Maida! Anthony’s top school choice is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) followed by Purdue. He’s currently thinking about majoring in mechanical engineering, but his interests go way beyond that. “Equally, I love working in thermodynamics with fluid dynamics,” said Anthony. “I like chemistry and composition materials. I also have a big focus on computer programming and computer science, so I might steer more in that direction as well.” He knows college will help him focus in on a specific career that involves more of everything he’s interested in.
Anthony says he loves to design and create things, and has always needed to know how things work, which is why he’s part of the Robocats, Walt Whitman High School’s Robotics Club. It’s also why he’ll tell you that AP Physics has been his favorite class this year.
As a high achieving student even while at Stimson Middle School, Anthony said he had to make a decision before starting high school. “Do I stay in this district or do I go to private school?” recalled Anthony. “And I looked at some really good schools, but I looked at this school and I thought to myself, this has everything that that school has. Not to mention that the community of students is just fabulous. So inclusive, very vibrant.”
There’s also a very musical side to this science student. Anthony is a member of the Walt Whitman wind ensemble, a percussionist in the pit orchestra, a pianist in the jazz band, and the president of The Collective recording studio. Back to science, he is president of Whitman’s Coding Club, and a member of Mathletes and Science Bowl. He was also part of Brookhaven National Lab’s High School Summer Research Program working on detecting insider cybersecurity threats. Anthony has been inducted into the National Honor Society, as well as the Math, English, Tri M (Music), and World Language Honor Societies at Walt Whitman. Plus he is a National Merit Scholarship Finalist.
Anthony has this advice for the future graduates of Walt Whitman High School: “I don't know if it's a little bit of that teenage angst or whatever, but a lot of high schoolers, they don't want to show like they care for something. You'll have a student that maybe is super interested in a weird science or math concept, but doesn't want to talk about it at length to their friends because they're afraid that they'll be labeled as a nerd. Or you'll have certain events going on in the school where students will automatically feel that, oh, this is lame. I'm not gonna look like I care. Why have that sort of artificial barrier between each other? I think that students, especially the underclassmen, should feel more free around each other to express their true passions, their true beliefs.”
Congratulations to Walt Whitman High School’s Class of 2023 Salutatorian, Zahra Choudry! Zahra has applied to 24 colleges and universities, and like so many other seniors this time of year, is waiting to hear some good news. The “yes” she wants to hear the most would be from Harvard, but her other top schools: Stanford, Yale, Princeton, UCLA or UC Berkeley, would all be great places to continue her lifelong love of learning, what Zahra calls the “essence of education” - the search for knowledge.
Zahra came into the South Huntington School District in 6th grade when her family moved to Long Island from Pakistan, in what she describes as “a classic story to seek a better life.”
“I'm blessed to be in this society and to experience amazing schooling here,” said Zahra. “So that kind of shift was a little bit difficult, but that difficulty has its perks. Like I learned to value education. I learned to value the resources that are given to me. And I think that's also another reason why I also tried so hard in school because a lot of people back home don't have school.”
While she admits the transition to a new country was sometimes difficult for her family, she always felt welcome when she started attending her classes at the Silas Wood 6th Grade Center, and that didn’t change through Stimson and Whitman. “I have never had a circumstance where I felt like I was limited or I felt like I wasn't seen,” she said. “The strides that we've taken to appreciate every student, I feel like it's something I respect so much. So I never had an issue, personally, which was just so amazing.”
When asked what she wants to do with the rest of her life, Zahra quickly answered, “Be happy!” As far as what she wants to do as a career, that’s a little harder to answer. She’s hoping college will help her narrow that down. She loves both STEM and the Humanities so she’s still keeping herself open to different majors. “It changes literally every day,” Zahra explained. “I'll read a book in AP Literature and I'll be like, wow, I should just become a journalist now. Or I'll do a math problem in Calc and I'll be like, I need to be a mathematician.”
Zahra’s been a high achiever outside the classroom as well. She is Founder and President of Walt Whitman’s Muslim Students Association, President of SADD, a member of the Speech and Debate Club, the Fashion Club, World Language Honor Society, Student Ambassador for the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, member of the Science Bowl, and is doing an internship with Brookhaven National Lab in their quantum computing program.
Zahra has this advice for the future graduates of Walt Whitman: “Perfection is the enemy of progress. So you don't need to be perfect, but there is no excuse to never try your best to improve, and also don't compare yourself to others. I think comparison is also the thief of joy.”