While some students spend their four years of high school chasing the top spot, Ishani Bakshi ‘26 and Hrishi Shah ‘26 spent theirs focusing on something simpler: taking every opportunity to improve themselves. However, after four years of academic excellence, Bakshi and Shah were named valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, at the Senior Awards Ceremony for having achieved the two highest weighted GPAs in the Class of 2026.
For Bakshi and Shah, achieving those titles was never a main focus. While both were aware of the possibility, considering their GPAs toward the end of their freshman and sophomore years, the titles were not guaranteed.
“Obviously, it’s a nice thing to be a valedictorian,” said Bakshi, “but I never thought about it actively until senior year when, despite the idea of senioritis and just giving up on your classes, I didn’t want to just give up the opportunity to give a speech.”
For Shah, academic success has been a goal since a young age. Throughout high school, he participated in Quiz Bowl and served as a sports editor for The Eagle’s Eye. Outside of school, Shah studied at the New Jersey Governor’s School in the Sciences, volunteers at hospitals, leads the Health for Humanity nonprofit, and serves as an EMT. Similarly, Bakshi is active in extracurriculars, serving as The Eagle’s Eye Editor-in-Chief, while also participating in the Governor’s School in the Sciences and the New Jersey Governor’s STEM Scholars program.
Both Bakshi and Shah credit their grades, particularly in science classes, to learning by doing. However, neither student’s journey to the top of the class was smooth. In her freshman year, Bakshi especially struggled in her AP Biology class.
“It took me a long time to figure out exactly how to study for bio and how to best consume all the notes and memorize all the various vocab terms and concepts that’ll be on the test,” said Bakshi.
A strategy that helped Bakshi succeed was being proactive with her assignments and avoiding procrastination. On the other hand, Shah focused on adjusting to each class and teacher and finding what worked best for each class.
“I think just sitting down and either asking a teacher or taking the time to learn it really helped,” said Shah. “For each class, you’ve got to see what the teachers like, how much they expect out of each assignment, how much effort you really need to put towards each assignment.”
Bakshi also experienced struggles in her junior year, especially due to juggling her school tasks, such as grades, applications, and extracurriculars, and her personal life.
“In junior year, I applied for a bunch of programs, awards, and competitions,” said Bakshi. “For a few months, I just kept getting rejection after rejection after rejection, which felt very demotivating.”
Similarly, Shah struggled with rejections from colleges in his senior year.
“Even this year, I’ve had so many colleges, like not getting into a lot of them or just not hearing back from a lot of them,” said Shah. “I feel like in the end, Rutgers is the best place for me. I don’t know if I’ve come to accept it or if it naturally is just the best fit, but I like to see it that way.”
Upon receiving the title of valedictorian, Bakshi was excited and relieved, especially since many of her friends had expected her to do so. On the contrary, being awarded the title of salutatorian was unexpected for Shah.
“I was so shocked when I got sal. It was during the award ceremony, and I didn’t get any other award till then, and sal was the last thing announced,” he said.
After graduation, Bakshi plans to study computer science and neuroscience at Princeton University, with ambitions to pursue a career in AI research and entrepreneurship. Shah intends to major in cell biology and neuroscience in a pre-med track at Rutgers Honors College, with aspirations to be a physician.
To underclassmen, Shah offers advice from his own high school experience.
“Just live in the moment. Don’t stress too much,” said Shah. “You’re not going to get these years back, and in the future, you’re not going to remember what you were worrying about, but you’re gonna remember what life you lived.”
