Every year, in high schools across the United States, there are students with the highest academic achievement of the graduating class labeled the valedictorian. That honor at Armijo this year goes to John Glen Siy.

The most common responsibility of the valedictorian is to prepare a speech for graduation. Although Siy has no prior experience in the role, he did say that he wants to advise the graduates to stay true to themselves “and prepare, prepare, prepare! I have no experience with public speaking, so any future graduation speakers should take this with a grain of salt,” he said.

He first found out about this accomplishment through a phone call from Principal Sheila Smith. He said it came as a total shock at first, and wished he could share this honor with other equally deserving students.

Good grades and test scores were not the only factor in this achievement. Siy participated in many extracurricular activities: Robotics all four years, Math Club his sophomore year, College and Career Club in junior year, and National Honor Society in his junior and senior years. He also spent some time on the track and tennis teams. He said that his hectic schedule kept him from having too many hobbies, but he does enjoy piano, tennis, and basketball. He also loves late night movie watching and discovering new genres of music.

In the fall, Siy will be studying engineering at UC Berkeley. “I like to take things as they go, so I don’t have a specific plan for the future except for some goals that I have for the first two years in undergrad,” he said. He hopes to maintain his grade point average (GPA) and is aiming for an internship at a tech startup. However his most important goal is to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle, saying it’s important to not only dictate himself to his studies but also maintain his humanity in the process.

Siy has a younger sister, Megan, who is a sixth grader at Grange. From the very start his role models have been his parents. Siy said, “They not only taught me work ethic and important virtues, but they’ve also guided me through countless times of struggle.” He also mentioned his cousins who were former Armijo students, saying he couldn’t have survived without their advice.

Siy said that he is grateful for all the motivation, help, and care he received from his Armijo teachers. He believes that Armijo is an amazing school, but the one thing he’d like to improve on is having more activities to acclimate freshmen. From his own personal experience, he knows how nervous freshmen can be starting high school, so mentorship and little boosts of encouragement could help out.

While he started his high school career as an Armijo Indian, he has adapted to the new mascot. The last thing Siy would like to say is, “Go Royals!”