Name: Gregory Toy
Age: 18
School: Lakeland High School
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Accomplishment: Salutatorian of Lakeland High School Class of 2011
Key to Awesomeness:
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The Lakeland High School salutatorian Gregory Toy has the ambition to start or partner an accounting, investment, or law firm. The recipient of the first place award in Accounting I of 2011 New York State Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference plans to major in Applied Economics at Cornell University.
Toy is also a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student and received the Rensselaer Medalist and Clarkson Leadership Awards.
Between editing drafts of his salutatory address, Toy shared with Patch his reflections of high school.
Patch: What kind of teachers motivate you to excel academically?
Gregory Toy: Teachers who are very passionate about what they teach, who care about their students, and can have some lighthearted moments in class.
Patch: What was a significant academic experience during your high school years?
GT: Going to a leadership conference in Washington D.C. We got to learn about politics through visiting the Senate and House buildings, organization headquarters, and looking at the attractions while also participating in mock presidential elections, court cases, and global summit debates.
Patch: What is an extracurricular activity that is very meaningful to you?
GT: FBLA because it set my long term goals of working in the business world and also taught me valuable skill such as networking and public speaking.
Patch: What were effective ways to prepare for your college interviews?
GT: Finding sample interview questions online and through books. However, each interviewer is different and may want different answers. Therefore, just remember to be yourself.
Patch: What is a quote that impacts you?
GT: "We accept challenges for the exhilaration of victory." The quote is by George Patton. It is meaningful to me because this is how I really view life. I still don't think I've found myself to be honest. I don't really know what I love doing or would want to pursue as a career. However, I'm open minded and willing to take any reasonable challenge I encounter just for the prospect of achieving something or beating the challenge. With this, I hope to one day encounter a challenge where it is the journey that means more to me than the reward and at that point I will know that I've found something that I truly love to do.
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Nominations for Yorktown Patch’s Whiz Kids can be submitted to Plamena Pesheva plamena@patch.com and Christine An christinean.patch@gmail.com
