A month ago we printed a list of recent valedictorians, and asked for information on what they were doing. Arielle Rich, a 2009 Cornwall graduate, was the first to respond.
There were two valedictorians that year. Arielle shared the honor with Hannah Min, who had transferred from a school in Pennsylvania. When the girls finished their speeches on graduation night, they exchanged high-fives.
A week earlier, Arielle had been unsure of what should we say. But that wasn’t evident on graduation night. A member of the track and basketball teams, as well as the National Honor Society, she urged her classmates to be open to all possibilities.
The following fall she put that philosophy to use as she entered the University of Delaware. While on campus, she became a member of the academic team for Operations Management. The team won the district championship and earned one of five spots at the international competition.
Arielle was the faculty’s choice for most outstanding senior in Marketing, and she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Operations Management. “Besides academics,” she said in an email, “I really enjoyed playing intramural sports and hanging out with friends.”
A month before graduation, the former valedictorian landed a job with a market research firm, National Analysts Worldwide. She moved to Philadelphia and started work in June. Always upbeat, she had a succinct but positive report on the experience. “I’m enjoying it so far,” she said.
Here’s a list of other valedictorians from this century.
Valedictorians
2013 Nicholas Branch
2012 Mikayla Huestis
2011 Cassandra Vondrak
2010 Gabrielle Favorito
2009 Hannah Min
2009 Arielle Rich
2008 Emily Wells
2007 Jesse Catalano
2006 Jude Fleming
2005 Gary Berkson
2004 Christopher Wells
2003 Sam Ryder
2002 Joseph Leone
2001 Emily Wemmer
