As The Preuss School’s class of 2025’s time comes to a close, the seniors are beginning to give their final goodbyes. Among the seniors, Yared Fente (‘25) stands out as an exemplary student at the Preuss School UCSD, and is one of the three Salutatorians for the class of 2025. Through his hard work and discipline he has become an excellent example of what every Preuss student should strive to be, and as the year comes to a close, he leaves us with some pieces of advice.
From very early on, he realized that he needed to expose himself to more and more opportunities in order to set himself up for success, which then led to him joining a program which would do just that.
“Joining Access Youth Academy as a freshman opened me to the opportunities and work I would have to utilize to get to where I am today,” he mentioned.
Although he did his best to try and succeed his entire time at Preuss, like many of us, he found himself struggling sometimes, especially since he decided to take on numerous AP courses during one of his years at Preuss. Despite this, he found the motivation to continue and not give up and in the end, his hard work paid off.
“A moment I felt like giving up was definitely in the come-up to AP Exams in my junior year. I was taking five exams, one of which I was self-studying for. I felt like I wanted to give up because I didn’t know how to prepare myself any better for the exams. To overcome this, I took a day-long break and when I came back to studying, I felt reenergized and prepared for my exams. Because of this, I was selected as an AP Scholar With Distinction, ” he reflected.
Although he did the best he could on his own, a lot of his success during high school was thanks to the people who helped him and gave him the resources to succeed.
When asked who had the biggest impact in his journey at Preuss, he replied, “Ms. Silva, for introducing me to scholarship programs like Bridge for Kids, and assisting me with setting up my applications during my fall semester of senior year. ”
The Preuss School is known for providing all of its students with rigorous coursework, which can be overwhelming at times for many students, but for Yared, he made every minute of the school day count towards completing his work.
He explains how, “Definitely working on my homework during advisory and any free time I could find. This enabled me to fully relax when I came home and get ready for the next day.”
Now that his time at Preuss is almost up and his journey is almost completed, he is beginning to prepare to move onto a new chapter in his life, Amherst College, where he will be majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science. Yared was particularly drawn to Amherst College for several reasons.
“I chose Amherst College because of its small campus community, low student to faculty ratio, robust alumni community, and proximity to Boston and NYC. Also, living in the Northeast has always been a dream for me, ” he shared.
For the new incoming freshmen, Yared wishes to give a few pieces of advice which helped him succeed and hopes will help them, even if it is in a small way. He advises those who are struggling, “Don’t overthink it. If you’re struggling with something, write it down. This will limit overthinking and make you better understand what you’re facing.”
And to those who don’t know what extracurriculars to get involved in, he advises, “Find extracurriculars that better coincide with your career aspirations and pursue them fully.”
As Yared’s time at Preuss begins to come to an end, his journey shows both the power of persistence and selftrust. As he begins the next chapter in his life, he is prepared for all that may lie ahead.
