By LISA CAPOBIANCO
STAFF WRITER
After four years of excelling through challenging courses while staying involved with extracurricular activities, St. Paul Catholic High School seniors Adam Levesque and Maria Aliberti feel like their hard work has paid off.
Both Maria and Adam are graduating at the top of their class this year. During the annual Academic Awards Night held recently, Adam was named valedictorian and Maria was named salutatorian.
“All of my hard work and dedication to my academics has finally paid off,” said Maria, who has won a variety of academic awards over the years, including the Yale Book Award.
Adam, who also graduated at the top of his eighth grade class, said becoming valedictorian was a goal of his since he walked through the doors of St. Paul as a freshman.
“To set that goal freshman year and to be able to achieve it four years later…really meant a lot to me,” said Adam, who has won a variety of academic awards, including the Honors Biology Subject Award.
After high school, Adam plans to attend Bentley University where he plans to study finance and a liberal arts subject. Adam then hopes to attend law school—something he has thought about for awhile.
“I have a lot of family friends who are lawyers, and that’s always been kind of an influence,” said Adam, adding how high school classes have prepared him, including AP government and Latin.
After high school, Maria will attend Boston College, where she plans to major in biology.
“It’s a renowned college that has high academic standards and a Jesuit Catholic background,” said Maria, adding that she may follow the pre-medical track with the hope of becoming a doctor one day.
Looking back over their high school years, both Maria and Adam said they enjoyed being a part of the St. Paul community.
“You get that community feel. I know everyone in my class by name, and I don’t think you can say that in many other places,” said Adam, adding how thankful he is for his high school years. “That was my favorite part of attending St. Paul—being a part of a family.”
“I’ll miss the community,” added Maria. “I’ll miss my friends and all the teachers there who have helped me these past four years.”
Outside the classroom, Adam and Maria got involved with different student activities while giving back to the community.
Selected as a Bristol Sports Hall of Fame Athlete during his junior year, Adam played junior varsity golf and was on the track and field team as well as the varsity cross country team.
“I enjoyed being a part of my own sports teams, [especially] cross country,” said Adam, adding that his favorite student activity was the Mr. SPHS Pageant. “That team became a family for me as well.”
During her last two years of high school, Maria joined the varsity cross country team, and played tennis during all four years of high school. She also participated in a variety of clubs, including debate, Language and Culture, and Blue Key clubs, among others. In addition, Maria also served in student government, where she was both treasurer and secretary.
“I was part of student government, Renaissance Club, Yearbook Club and SPTV for all four years,” said Maria, who volunteered as an emergency room greeter at St. Francis Hospital during her senior year. “In addition, I was part of Mission Club where I occasionally [volunteered] in soup kitchens.”
During all four years of high school, Adam was involved in the Latin Club and Blue Key Club, as well as CLASI (Communication Leaders Advancing School Improvement). He also joined the Blue Key Club, Renaissance Club and Math Club. Outside St. Paul, he volunteered at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Meals for the Needy soup kitchen and tutored children at the Bristol Boys & Girls Club.
One of the greatest lessons he learned at St. Paul is “life isn’t a competition,” said Adam.
“Not everything you do in life has to be a competition, and you can still try to achieve your own personal goals without having to have other people not achieve theirs,” said Adam, who also was in National Honor Society and Latin Honor Society.
“It’s important to stay true to yourself and to work hard,” said Maria, reflecting on the greatest lesson she learned in high school.
Adam Levesque is valedictorian for St. Paul Catholic High School’s Class of 2016.
Maria Aliberti is salutatorian for St. Paul Catholic High school’s Class of 2016.