Abigail Alemayeho is one of the three Salutatorians of Preuss. Her hard work and dedication to success is without a doubt prevalent in not just her character, but attitude towards life. Abigail will be attending Stanford University in the Fall of 2022 with a major in Human Biology and possibly a minor in Ethics and Race Relations. Below are a couple of questions we had for Abigail.

What is your greatest high school experience?

“For me personally, my greatest high school experience was winning so many levels of QuestBridge as it is such a prestigious program. I didn’t think I was going along the way, but getting in the college prep program and being matched at the end was one of my greatest achievements.”

Was it worth trying to become Salutatorian?

“I actually didn’t try; I just went through school. It was never with the intention of becoming Salutatorian, but I just wanted to get into a good college. This ended up being something that came with it but I don’t think most of us want to even make speeches. We are all glad and myself personally to go up and represent all our hard work.”

Which class threatened your Salutatorian statues the most?

“Spanish and AP Bio are classes I struggled with, but they were small ups and downs, never dramatic drops.”

As a non-native speaker, Spanish is one of the hardest classes to take with either Ms. Zamora or Ms. Wiedemeier. AP Biology is also classified as one of the hardest AP classes with less than 10% of students receiving a 5.

What do you think contributed most to your college acceptance?

“Besides grades, my extracurricular and longer term achievements with leadership showed my commitment and variety. I did well in each of them and was in them since 9th grade. I’ve gotten a lot of awards and enjoyed everything I’ve done.”

What was the most positive experience you’ve had here at Preuss?

“Honestly, I think it’s the relationships I’ve built. I can’t exactly pin it, but I think that the teachers that are now my buddies and my friends as well as my extracurriculars and Squash have made every experience at Preuss better. Specifically, Robotics tournaments are my favorite because you get to travel and get out of school and that’s always fun. I love seeing all the upperclassmen and seeing your robot doing well is always a good feeling.”

Complete the sentence, “I will always remember…”

“Ms. Bandy! I will remember all of my teachers, but Ms. Bandy is who I will never forget. I will also never forget the long and early bus rides to school.”

Ms. Bady is a 7th grade science teacher and the advisor for Preuss’ Robotics Team. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science at UCSD and her Masters in education. 

Any advice or tips you’d give to rising juniors or seniors?

“For Seniors, just stay on top of things and I know things tend to slip and I get it, but what helps for me is getting started on things right when I get it so that I can just edit and refine whatever I need to. Also, college apps should take forever and will take up a lot of time. I started my college essays in June of my junior year and I crafted my essays to show them how others see you. The best piece of advice is to do your work!”