A New Jersey teen is named valedictorian of her high school and college at the same time. Daniela Velazquez attended high school at Passaic Preparatory Academy and was also in the early college program at Passaic County Community College. The 18-year-old spent the last two years balancing her high school workload with college-level courses and earned her associate’s degree at the same time as her high school diploma, all while maintaining the highest grades of any student at both schools.
So when it came time for the first-generation Mexican American to graduate, she was honored as the valedictorian at both schools' graduation ceremonies. Neither of Daniela’s parents had the opportunity to graduate from high school, much less college, and she had to explain to them what being a valedictorian meant, but she says they would have been proud of her even without the title.
This fall, the stellar student plans to attend Columbia University on a partial scholarship and will double major in psychology and film studies. And even though her high school voted her “Most Likely to Become President,” she says she has no interest in that job.
Source: NY Post