“It seems like our time in High School was so fleeting,” said reflective valedictorian Nimesh Kshatriya Wednesday afternoon. “I remember freshman year like it was yesterday.”
Even though it went by quickly, Kshatriya and Salutatorian Kevin Gonzalez managed to put together an impressive record of academic achievements and extracurricular accomplishments. They have earned the school’s top honors and are scheduled to address the 160-member senior class as valedictorian and salutatorian on Tuesday afternoon at Hoboken High School’s graduation ceremony.
For the past four years, Gonzalez and Kshatriya have been engaged in a competitive but friendly battle to be ranked as the head of the class. “Ever since freshman year we have been competitive,” said Kshatriya. But they both said that neither of them ever let the competition for academic glory get in the way of their friendship and the comradely friendship of their fellow classmates. “We are all such close friends that it pushed us to work together and work hard,” said Kshatriya.
And work hard they have. Their list of successes is staggering. Kshatriya, who will be attending Rutgers in the fall and plans to study finance, was a member of the Harvard Model Nations, the academic bowl, the Math Club, French Club, and the varsity tennis team. He also volunteers his time as a member of Serve America, and was active in the Hispanic Culture Club.
Gonzalez, who will be staying in Hoboken and attending Stevens Institute of Technology, has an equally inspiring list of feats. He is captain of the football team, active in the drama club, where in the past two years he performed in Westside Story and On With the Show, and he is president of French Club. He is also in the Italian Club, Math Club, academic bowl, and is president of the student council.
Gonzalez said the two activities that influenced him the most during his time at Hoboken High School have been his participation on the football team and the school’s drama club. While to most people these activities might seem like opposites, to Gonzalez they are a logical extension of his personality and have taught him many of the life lessons he values most, such as the importance of hard work, dedication, leadership, and using good technique in everything he does. “These are definitely the two activities that affected me the most,” he said. “They have molded me into the person that I am today.
Like a number of his classmates, Gonzalez said he was not going to forget his roots as he goes off to make his way in the world. For him that means keeping in touch with his friends and always remembering the lessons he learned in the mile-square city’s only high school.
“It’s been a every exciting four years,” said Gonzalez. “While I’m leaving an important part of my life behind, I have a great deal of excitement but also anxiety over how the future is going to turn out.”
Gonzalez, who will be going to college on a full academic scholarship, plans to study mechanical engineering at Stevens.
This summer he will participate in a six-week “bridge” program at the engineering school, which prepares students for the academic riggers of university and also the social transition that takes place in college. During the program he will be staying in the school’s dorms. “I want to do everything possible to put myself into a position to be successful while [at Stevens],” he said.
When asked if he had any advice for his fellow graduates, Gonzalez said his best advice is to be dedicated to goals and work hard to achieve them. “It’s a great experience here [at Hoboken High School] but we have to keep working hard. If we do that, anything is possible.”
Kshatriya also gave some last nuggets of advice to his high school friends. “Destiny is in your hands and you should take any opportunity that presents itself,” he said, “and whatever you do in the future, do it with all of your heart.”
The graduation ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. on June 24 on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology.