Jessica Wu
Salutatorian Jessica Wu.
Salutatorian Jessica Wu told graduates at Trinity Valley’s 58th commencement ceremony in May to let no one, “most of all yourself,” define the bounds of your capability.
“High school is just the start,” she went on with her address to classmates at the MacGorman Chapel & Performing Arts Center. “Within all of you are the branches of success, patiently waiting to catch a spark and create a bonfire. I truly believe everyone in our class is capable of doing something incredible.”
She used as an example her improvement in track and field, going from what she described as “nothing special” to doing something, well, incredible.
Her feat piqued my interest, and I asked her about it in an email. She politely demurred, explaining that the speech “wasn’t meant to be about me.”
Fair enough.
Emily Mandel
Valedictorian Emily Mandel.
Wu and valedictorian Emily Mandel were Trinity Valley’s top academics of the Class of 2024. Both will be attending the University of Texas. Wu is planning to study chemical engineering and later, possibly, go to med school. Mandel will study government with plans to go to law school afterward.
In addition to Wu and Mandel, three others earned distinction as National Merit Finalists, including Ari Ahdieh, Nicholas Charette, and Neel Koney.
Trinity Valley’s senior class earned 262 scholarships totaling almost $18 million, according to the school.
Mandel’s speech focused on advice that her father gave her.
You be you; just be the best you, you can be.
“The first step,” Mandel said, “is understanding what it means to be you. … Your character is fundamental to your identity. It is the foundation upon which the rest of your life is built. And it demonstrates to those around you who you truly are.”
That brings us back to Wu, a “committed” volleyball player all through high school, including multi-season participation on various club teams. She also did track and field for Trinity Valley from February to March, mainly focusing on high jump.
“It is customary for high school seniors to be progressively laid-back about anything at school requiring serious work,” deadpanned James Scott, a teacher and coach at Trinity Valley. “This is especially true the final semester, and spring break is the signal for ultimate languid ‘senioritis’ to find full ‘torpor’ fruition.”
As if I don’t have memory.
Well, rather than tap the brakes as the school year wound down, Wu and senior track teammates Isabel Johnson and Jane Holloway floored it.
“They were relentless at practice,” said Scott, “staying long after the younger athletes, and they did the maximum events per meet.”
For Wu, that included the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, something she decided to try only this track season. Wu’s events had been the high jump and pole vault. At the SPC Championships, she earned silver in both.
Her initial times in the 100m and 300m were adequate to qualify for the SPC Championships, Scott said. Then on April 25 at Fort Worth Country Day’s Rosacker Stadium, Wu was in the starting blocks for the 100m hurdles, Scott recalled, when coach Kyle Kennedy, speaking just as the gun went up said, “your posture.”
“The gun sounded,” Scott said, “Jessica changed her posture, and she exploded to first place with a 15.82,” breaking the “iconic” TVS record of 15.83 set by Jane Freese 40 years earlier. She went on to win gold at the SPC Championships.
“To achieve means consistently working hard, pushing on past failure, and having a desire to improve yourself,” Wu said in an email when I finally got her to talk about it. “I think the extraordinary part may be what allows myself and my peers at TVS to do so. Examples include being a good teammate/person so that you have a support group when you fall; a mentality to focus on improving yourself rather than undermining others; and being humble enough in failure (that is, not being the best). The platitudes may be ordinary, but to truly be all these things consistently is extraordinary.”
