With the approach of the end of school year and graduation for seniors the Valedictorians and Salutatorians of the class of 2025 were announced on Friday, Feb. 21, during a celebratory breakfast presented in the Knight’s Tavern for the top ten highest-scoring students of each academic track, traditional and IB.  

To Raksha Dharani (‘25), the IB Salutatorian, academics have never been about excelling for the sake of a good grade; it’s about the value of the learning experience.

“I wouldn’t say becoming the Salutatorian was my main goal,” Dharani said. “It was more of the sense of curiosity and the passion that I had to learn more, and the hunger that I had to learn more about [different] subjects.”

Dharani plans to become a neurological oncologist while continuing to pursue her interests in calligraphy and neuroscience. 

“My parents have always taught me the importance of not just chasing the grade,” Dharani said. “It’s more about what you take out of any experience, not just in the academic field, but also outside of school; it’s really important not to think about the outcome, but rather the experience you are having.”

It’s the opposite, however, for Traditional Valedictorian Adeline Cloutier (‘25). 

“My parents instilled the belief in me that school comes first before anything else,” Cloutier said. “So even though I’m a big swimmer and I’m big into sports, you know, school always came first. […] I would say it was definitely worth the effort.”

Cloutier plans to study biology and pre-med at the University of North Carolina.

“If you know you want to be Valedictorian,” Cloutier said, “keep putting yourself out there and keep pushing to be in the hardest classes that you could possibly be in.”

There’s one thing, Dharani said, that she believes is crucial not just to academic success, but in life.

“It’s really important to recognize your passion and your curiosity, but it’s also really important to know the driving force behind that, be it your parents or your future goals,” Dharani said. “Really understanding what drives your curiosity is the most important. When you know that key factor, it’s really easy for you to achieve the things that you want to do, and achieve the goals that you want in life. […] It’s not just academic, but really any experience you partake in; it’s important to not think about what you’re going to get out of it, but rather the experience. If you have the curiosity, just focus on what makes you happy.”