June 29, 2021
Emma Ni is a National Merit Scholar and has a GPA of 100.01. Ni took eight honors and eight Advanced Placement (AP) courses. She earned a 1560 on the SAT, and perfect scores of 800 on the subject area tests in both Math II and Chemistry.
She is a scholar athlete— currently ranked 54th in the United States Competitive Junior Fencing. She will compete next year at the Division 1 level. Ni is also vice president of the Interact Club, an editor for the literary magazine, and an avid lover of music. She plays piano, flute, and taught herself the ukulele. She has performed in multiple recitals on piano, including one at Carnegie Hall. She will attend the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University.
Ni began her valediction speech by recommending a book. “Please, everyone, read the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn if you have the chance.” The book offers positive solutions to global problems. Quinn parses humanity’s origins and its relationship with nature, in search of an answer to this challenging question: How can we save the world from ourselves?
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She praised her AP Environmental Science teacher, Glenn Stuart, for “the profound way his class has changed how I see the world.” It was Mr. Stuart who assigned the book. She also singled out senior health teacher Claire Scarpa for her “genuine desire to educate herself and others to become more inclusive, understanding people. “I appreciate that beyond words,” she says. Montgomery High School teachers should all be praised for their undertaking of diversity and equality training this year.
Ni’s advice to all in attendance at the graduation ceremony:
1. Enjoy the present moment. “Every day and every hour is worth something.”
2. Question the world around you. “Social movements in the past two years are prime examples that the way things have always been are not how they will always be.”
3. Simply be kind. “There is worth and weight in your words. Use them to be kind.”
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