2012 Valedictorian Melissa Kreider
Melissa Kreider knows she'll be just one high school valedictorian among many at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall. Far from feeling intimidated by all that brain power, Melissa's excited.
"I'm looking forward to it," says the Branford High School (BHS) Class of 2012's top student. "I think it's better for me to be with people who are working as hard as I am."
Being among diligent students has definitely helped her excel. Melissa began taking BHS math classes as a 7th grader. She completed the top BHS math course, Advanced Placement (AP) calculus, her sophomore year, scoring 5 out of 5 on her AP final.
All through high school, "I was surrounded by people working as hard as I was," says Melissa, adding she never felt stressed about keeping up her grades.
"I like learning, so it's not really about the grade, and that made it better for me."
Parental support and self-motivation helped, as well. For example, once Melissa completed AP calculus, "I didn't want to take the next two years off from math, so I took a couple of math classes at Southern" Connecticut State University (SCSU).
Melissa earned an A+ in both calculus II and linear algebra at SCSU, while also acing her three AP classes her junior year and the three AP classes she took her senior year. Melissa earned the top score of 5 on all of her AP exams.
A BHS peer math tutor, Melissa was a member of the 2010 BHS Math Faculty Hiring Committee. While math is a favorite subject (as is history), Melissa's planning to enter the science field, with a focus on chemistry. Of all her BHS science courses, "Chemistry made the most sense to me. It's like a puzzle, like math. I like that."
Melissa credits BHS chemistry honors and AP chemistry teacher Amy Okamoto with helping foster her interest in the subject.
"She's really good at showing things step by step and always asked us a lot of questions to make sure we were on board."
Melissa enjoyed being on another type of board during her BHS career-serving two years as student representative for the Board of Education.
"That was an interesting experience because I learned about the process of town politics and the town's dedication to education," she says.
In addition, Melissa played BHS varsity softball and played travel softball with the Connecticut Hornets from 2005 to 2011 (serving as co-captain in 2010) as well as assisting with coaching its 14-and-under team. And if BHS had an equestrian team, Melissa would have been on it-she's been riding since the age of six.
At 17, Melissa's résumé is filled with well-deserved accolades, awards, and accomplishments. The BHS National Honor Society, World Language National Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society (treasurer) member earned summa cum laude on the National Latin exam. She also earned a national ranking at the American Chemistry Society Olympiad.
Melissa earned the BHS Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award, Yale Book Award, and Award in Science & Technology in Association with MIT. She received an additional BHS award on graduation day, when, a few moments after being named class valedictorian, she received the Faculty Key Award.
The honor represents the faculty's ideal of a student who demonstrates academic achievement combined with leadership and community service qualities.
"I'm still kind of taking all of this in now, and holding on to it, because I know at MIT I'm not going to be the special one," says Melissa, smiling. "I think if you enjoy learning and you put an effort into your education, you can get good things out of it."