Schools

Meet Yorktown High School's Salutatorian Julia Kelly

The high school senior plans to attend Cornell University in the fall and plans on majoring in biology and minoring in math.

Julia Kelly will graduate from  this month with the special distinction of achieving top academic rankings in her class. She has been named salutatorian.

Not only has she earned top grades, she has been an active member of the school. Kelly plans to attend Cornell University in the fall and plans on majoring in biology and minoring in math.

The 17-year-old is a musician, violinist and secretary of the YHS concert orchestra. She has played varsity soccer for three years and is a member of the Science Olympiad and math teams. In her free time she likes to read, play the piano, and spend time with friends and family. Kelly also serves as a Youth Deacon and Sunday school teacher at the . 

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As a student in the YHS science research program, she spent her last two summers performing research at New York Medical College. In 2010, she aimed to better understand the mechanisms behind Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction in diseases like sleep apnea, pulmonary hypertension, and high altitude sickness. In March 2011, she presented this project at the Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF) and won the "Future of Medicine" award presented by the Westchester Academy of Medicine. She won the Philips Award for exceptional research at WESEF 2012.

Patch interviewed the student to get her take on her high school experience and plans for the future.

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Patch: Did you imagine you'd be named top student – was this your goal?

Julia Kelly: I definitely was not expecting to be named salutatorian, it was never the reason that I strived to get good grades, rather I wanted to do the best that I personally could.

Patch: Was there a particular class or academic experience that changed you?

Kelly: There have been many classes and teachers that have had a strong influence on my interests and attitudes, the first three that come to mind are Science Research with Mr. Blueglass, APUSH with Mr. Kennedy, and Physics with Mr. Mazzio. Blue’s persistently hardworking and inquisitive personality has been a constant motivation to work harder, Kennedy’s friendliness, encouragement, and character are qualities that I now strive to emulate in my own life, and Mazz’s unbounded enthusiasm for physics has led me to develop my own interest in physics and has inspired me to be more passionate about all that I do.

Patch: In your opinion, is there anything you'd like to see the school district do differently?

KellyI think it would be better if it were easier for students to schedule classes – I seemed to have difficulty with this every year because of classes that conflicted with each other. I also wouldn’t have minded starting school a bit later because not only did I want more sleep, but it’s actually very beneficial to your ability to learn new information.

Patch: What's your dream job of the future?

KellyI’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet, something in math or science is the only parameter I have at this point.

Patch: What will you miss when you graduate high school?

Kelly: I’m going to miss all of my friends and family and teachers! 

Patch: What was your experience at Yorktown High School like?

Kelly: I've had a good experience at YHS. I made a lot of really awesome friends and have been fortunate enough to have many inspiring and influential teachers in my years here.  

Patch: Please share a funny or embarrassing story about your high school experience?

KellyOne time I began a new economics class and I spent 5 minutes trying to find the classroom and practically scoured the whole school trying to find it. The embarrassing part is that this actually happened 3 months ago…

Patch: What advice will you give YHS juniors?

KellyI would advise them to always work to the best of their ability and to find a balance between school and other activities. It’s good to work hard but you can’t drive yourself crazy by doing only schoolwork all the time! 

Patch: What are some objectives of your speech? What message do you hope to send at graduation?

Kelly: I can’t say that I’ve written too much of it yet, but in general I hope to keep my speech very positive and optimistic.

Patch: Four fun, quick questions. Ready? What's on your iPod, what's your favorite late-night snack, your favorite book and what comfort item will you bring from home to college?

Kelly: The music on my iPod is pretty varied seeing as it is a conglomeration of my whole family’s musical tastes so there’s a bit of everything – Taylor Swift, Billy Joel, James Taylor, High School Musical, Glee, Coldplay, Van Morrison, Beethoven, Mozart, The Eagles, Cat Stevens, Lady Antebellum – and many more

My favorite late night snack would probably be mint chocolate chip ice cream

I actually have many favorite books, among them are the entire Harry Potter series, The Great Gatsby, and Freakonomics.

As a comfort item I’m definitely going to bring lots of photos of friends and family.

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