Editor’s Note: Mrinali Kesavades has been named the Mahomet-Seymour Valedictorian for the Class of 2020. We will have her story next week.
By FRED KRONER
Annie Bao played tennis.
She also played the violin and the piano.
She served on student council while attending Mahomet-Seymour High School.
She was a member of M-S’ WYSE team, Science Olympiad and Chem Team.
Bao also found time to study, do her homework and fully comprehend the material.
Despite her busyness, the senior wound up as the M-S salutatorian for the Class of 2020. Her final grade-point average, on a weighted scale, was 5.52376.
She made it work.
“I had to be very efficient in order to balance schoolwork and extracurriculars,” Bao said. “I would complete my homework as soon as possible and whenever I had free time, and I avoided procrastination.
“I created planner agendas to have a clear itinerary for each of my days.”
The lessons learned through sports were beneficial.
“Tennis requires traits such as determination, perseverance, diligence, endurance, and optimism,” Bao said, “and these characteristics are also necessary to being a strong academic student.”
Her reaction was one of pride when she learned about becoming the salutatorian.
“I was very honored and happy that my hard work has paid off,” Bao said.
Her academic success in junior high – when she compiled all A’s – helped Bao believe she could continue along that same path throughout high school.
“Having this long-term goal kept me motivated with something to strive for through all four years of high school,” Bao said. “Having good grades was something I took to naturally, but I also wanted to make my parents proud.”
Bao handled a challenging course load at M-S. In all, she took seven Advanced Placement (AP) classes.
“My best and favorite subjects were AP Calculus, AP English and Physics,” she said. “Some of my toughest classes were AP U.S. History and AP Chemistry.”
She had straight A’s each semester. Her lowest grade was an A-minus during the second semester of her AP U.S. History class.
Her workload seemed to increase each year.
“As the years progressed, I’ve had more advanced classes that required more work, such as AP,” Bao said. “In turn, I’ve had to work longer hours every night.
“For my busiest classes, I’ve had to spend around three hours to complete homework and study for exams.”
As a senior, she was able to improve her class rank. Bao was third entering her final year.
“I was determined to maintain or improve my rank because I wanted to finish high school strong and embody my potential,” Bao said.
She stayed focused even though a significant portion of her final semester was spent learning remotely from home following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This final semester was very unexpected, but I strove to maintain my diligence,” Bao said. “My teachers have eased the transition by helping us adapt smoothly through online Google meets and Remind updates.”
Bao plans to attend Duke University and major in biology.
“In the future, I hope to become a doctor and emulate the heroism embodied by today’s healthcare workers,” she said.
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