Tinkal Shah vividly remembers the day last November when she found out she was going to be the valedictorian of the North Bergen High School Class of 2004.
“I knew that I would be up there,” Shah said. “But I wasn’t sure if I was going to be number one. We were in a classroom and we were handed envelopes that had index cards in them. On the index card was the class rank. I didn’t know until I saw the card that said I was number one out of 473. I just yelled out, ‘Oh, my God,’ and everyone knew that it was me. It was amazing to think that I stood out above the rest.”
Kishan Patel knew there was good competition between the top five students in the senior class and that competition enabled him to earn the number two rank and the honor of delivering the salutatory address in Friday’s commencement exercises.
“I think we all wanted to be number one in the class,” Patel said. “It was definitely important to me.”
Four of the top five students and eight of the top 10 in the Class of 2004 came from Indian heritage. Both Shah and Patel’s parents were born in India and brought a strong sense of pride in education with them to their new homes in the United States. Shah’s father is a mechanical engineer and her mother is a store manager. Patel’s father owns a variety store.
“My parents used to tell me stories of how hard it was to get an education back in India,” Shah said. “I dedicated myself to do well in school because of what they went through. I’m the second oldest of four children, and getting a good education was important to all of us.”
“I heard many stories of their struggle and hardship,” Patel said. “They made the most of their opportunities here. I think it’s just part of the culture to make sure the children do better than the parents. My parents’ drive is for me to excel.”
Patel is the youngest of five children, having four older sisters who set the tone for him. “They all pushed me,” Patel said. “They all graduated from college and all had good jobs, as a teacher, as an accountant, as an IT manager and as a business manager. My sister [Panna] helped me a lot when I applied to a summer program in Harvard last summer, and I was able to take an eight-credit chemistry class. It was really exciting, learning from professors from all over the world. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help from my sister.”
President
During her tenure at North Bergen, Shah was the president of the French Honor Society, a member of the school’s student council, a two-year member of the National Honor Society, and a member of the Environment Club and the Academic Decathlon team.
She is headed to Boston University to study medical engineering.
Patel, whose cousin, Nitin Patel, was the valedictorian of the North Bergen Class of 1997, was very active with the youth group of his church, located in Weehawken. He is also headed to Boston University in the fall, studying in the school’s BMB (biochemistry/molecular biology) program with the hopes of going to medical school, much like his cousin, who is graduating from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s medical school program this year.
“I think the most important thing I’ve learned from North Bergen High School is the diversity here. You have a feeling of all the different ethnic groups. You get to learn, know about and interact with so many different people. But having two people of Indian heritage at the top of the class is amazing. There is a sense of pride,” said Patel. “I think a lot of people are shocked that four of the top five are from India,” Shah said. “But to me, it’s very special.”
Shah was asked what her valedictory speech will feature.
“I will speak about leadership,” Shah said. “That each of us, no matter where we end up, are going to be leaders in our own lives, that we have the chance to inspire someone else.”
Much in the same fashion that Shah’s parents motivated her and Patel’s parents gave him the drive that was instilled in them in their native land.