Prarthana Rajai earns title as Class of 2015 Valedictorian

The valedictorian of Henry P. Becton Regional High School’s Class of 2015 is Prarthana Rajai. Her last four years at Becton have been spent taking vigorous courses, volunteering for a multitude of organizations and participating in numerous extracurricular activities.

This fall, the valedictorian will be attending the Albert Dorman Honors College at NJIT and will major in biomedical engineering.

Prarthana’s current grade point average is a 103.5, and she has taken eight advanced placement courses over her high school career. This year, her schedule includes English 12AP, Spanish III, United States Government and Politics AP, Chemistry 2AP, AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Calculus BC through Virtual High School.

The valedictorian stated, “AP Calculus BC through Virtual High School was my hardest class because it was my first online course. Since it was not in a traditional classroom setting, understanding the material and grasping the concepts were a challenge, along with time management.”

Despite one of her largest obstacles being time management, the valedictorian commended the VHS class and her independent Spanish III class for helping her with the challenge. Not only did it help her prioritize, but these courses, along with her extracurricular activities, strengthened her communication and leadership skills, she said.

The clubs that have shaped her into the person she is today are Environmental Club, Key Club, Math League and Model Congress. Prarthana is also currently the vice president of the National Honor Society and a member of the Spanish Honor Society.

During her spare time, she has volunteered at Hackensack University Medical Center, the Bergen County Junior Commission on the Status of Women, and the East Rutherford Emergency Medical Youth Squad. Furthermore, she was a counselor at the Hindu Youth Summer Camp.

Prarthana notes that throughout her high school years, she has never been fixated on having the highest marks or ranks, but rather was focused on meeting all the deadlines. Working hard to learn and pursuing a successful future were her targets right from the beginning of high school.

She is honored and happy to be able to have this accomplishment as being the top of the class and “hopes to continue to achieve great things in the future.” Advice for future students and aspiring valedictorians is to “Work hard, never give up, and keep challenging yourself; life is boring without a challenge.”

One quote that has inspired, motivated and enabled her to come to the realization that the future relies on choices one makes is William Shakespeare’s “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” She believes this quote can be used as encouragement for anyone.

Looking back at senior year, Prarthana’s favorite memory was prom, seeing as she “extremely enjoyed the night.” “It was a lot of fun,” she added.