VALEDICTORIAN: After four rigorous years, Philine Endres earns the top spot of the Class of 2014.
By Ashley Gore, Staff Writer
From freshman to senior year, everybody remembers the sports. They remember the league titles and the CIF championships, the letterman’s jackets and the corresponding patches accrued over the years. Students and faculty alike coat themselves in orange and green to celebrate the triumphs of Poly’s athletes. While every school needs a rowdy student cheering section, many academic accolades go unnoticed. In the eyes of many high school students, spotless report cards don’t hold a candle to CIF rings. However, at every graduation, one bright student earns the opportunity to lead his or her class as a different kind of champion: valedictorian.
This year, Philine Endres (12) achieved this prestigious academic honor. However, her talents and abilities range far beyond the classroom. Underneath the straight A’s and superb study habits, she defies the typical image of a valedictorian. “Everyone’s road is different. Mine was pretty bumpy and I took several detours,” Endres said.
She does not only identify herself as a stellar student; Endres is also a varsity athlete. After running the quarter mile in track and field and swimming on Poly’s swim team, she eventually lettered in pole vaulting.
Among all of her athletic commitments and academic successes, Endres still makes time to stay involved in Poly’s Medical Club. In addition, she fluently speaks several languages, including French, German and Italian. However, since her Italian “is pretty rusty” she plans on taking Italian in college as a minor or double major.
Although Endres took twelve AP courses over her high school career, she does not recommend taking classes simply for the GPA boost or joining clubs just to add them to college applications. “Love what you do. Get interested, and don’t take classes you don’t like just because they’re weighted or easy A’s,” Endres said. Surprisingly enough, she also advises students to not stress out too much over school.
Endres certainly has a bright future ahead of her; she will attend the University of California, Berkeley this fall. She hopes to become a surgeon and possibly move to Italy, her “favorite place on earth” and former home.
Endres exemplifies the ideal student: intelligent, athletic, involved and well-rounded. No matter how many tough classes she took or clubs she joined, she always made sure she followed her passions: “Do what you love and not what you think you ‘should’ be doing.” Endres said.