On Feb. 29, BVH Principal Lee Romero announced the class of 2024’s valedictorians where two students’ Grade Point Average (GPA) tied for the position with a 4.67 GPA. In second period of senior Vivien Anderson’s class, Romero announced Anderson as one of the valedictorians.
“Currently I’m in International Baccalaureate (IB) English Higher Level (HL) 2, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles, AP Macroeconomics, Honors Anatomy and Physiology, AP Calculus BC and AP Environmental Science,” Anderson said. “Freshman and sophomore year I did volleyball, and sophomore year I did club volleyball. I did dance my whole life until junior year. Since sophomore year I’ve [been in] Baron buddies and managed the boys’ varsity lacrosse team junior year.”
Anderson has been able to maintain rigorous courses throughout high school by taking a combination of IB, AP and Honors classes. She also participates in various extracurriculars that inspired her to form her own club this year called Baron Business Society. Anderson expresses how going into high school she didn’t expect to be valedictorian.
“I just took classes I wanted to take, or the ones that my older brother [BVH alumni and current UCLA student, Max Anderson] suggested. It wasn’t until second semester junior year that I saw my ranking was pretty high and [realized] I had a shot. So I talked to my counselor and parents, and I decided just to go for it,” V. Anderson said.
She has maintained straight A’s and healthy academic habits throughout high school. After deciding to take additional weighted classes junior and senior year, V. Anderson became focused on the goal of being valedictorian. V. Anderson explains that M. Anderson—although he couldn’t attend the ceremony nor be interviewed—has been a big role model guiding her through academics.
“I know that [V. Anderson] holds him to a very high regard. We look up to him and she takes his advice very seriously. As soon as she found out she could be valedictorian, she called her brother and asked him [for] class recommendations,” senior Priscilla Iniguez said. “Whatever questions she had, he answered them. He would recommend certain classes and push her to do more than what she thought she could do in order to help her to become better.”
As V. Anderson continued to focus on school and maintain her grades, she became very close in range to beating senior Daniel Robitaille’s GPA. Both continued to compete for the title until it was announced that the two of them tied, making it a rare occurrence.
“It was common knowledge that both [V. Anderson] and [Robitaille] were running for it. [V. Anderson], modified her schedule once she knew she was [in the] running. She took seven classes in order to put herself above competition,” Iniguez said. “I was pretty sure that she was going to be valedictorian, or salutatorian. It was just a process of actually happening”.
Prior to the announcement, V. Anderson was very anxious after finding out Romero announced salutatorians, despite it normally being announced later in the school year. V. Anderson spoke to a few salutatorians, later finding out that the school called the parents of the salutatorians to be a part of the announcement ceremony.
“When I found out the valedictorian wasn’t announced yet I told my mom to let me know if they call. She says that they never did. I was even more disappointed, but then I was stalking her location during second period and saw that she wasn’t at work and that she was at school. So I knew right before [they announced it] and I was really happy,” V. Anderson said.
In order to achieve this accomplishment, Anderson’s teachers and counselor have supported her. She explains that English 9, International Baccalaureate Literature and English Language Development teacher Raymond Chhan, former counselor Brittney Pacini and Health Career Internship instructor, Honors anatomy and physiology teacher George LaFiguera have given her advice. LaFiguera has especially been a prominent figure in her academic journey throughout the school year.
“Part of my motivation to be valedictorian is actually a bet that I made with LaFiguera at the very beginning of this year. Hopefully, everyone will see soon that LaFiguera is about to have a bright pink beard. We decided at graduation he’ll show up with a bright pink beard,” V. Anderson said.
This “motivational encouragement” pushed V. Anderson to pursue the challenging path of valedictorian. LaFiguera expresses how it is not easy to do this alone without any help. As a teacher he saw the importance of encouraging and helping V. Anderson outside of the classroom.
“I’ve been life coaching Vivian in terms of everything from starting a club, applying to colleges to managing time. One day, she was talking about how she wanted to be valedictorian and I said, ‘You know what, if you pull this off and become valedictorian, how about I dye my beard pink?’ And she [said], ‘deal’,” LaFiguera said. “I think it’s great. She put her mind, time and effort to it and pulled it off. That’s commendable,” LaFiguera said.
As V. Andersons’ senior year pursued, it is easier for students like her to want to quit and lose their initial drive. However, with the motivation of friends, family and teachers surrounding her, she was able to continue working hard. Her plans beyond high school are to attend a four-year college while majoring in business.
“A lot of our friends have modified schedules, whether it’s to work or other reasons that they get to leave early at lunch, I also had a modified schedule. It was very difficult for her like, ‘Oh, I could be leaving school right now,’” Iniguez said. “She’s working towards a common goal, but then has other temptations. She could have such an easy senior year [and] leaving early. I kept encouraging and reminding her to stay strong. We also help each other with homework and keep [each other] in check too.”
