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A Few Clouds Oyster Bay High School valedictorian Sophia Dean is off to Brown University
Sophia Dean, this year’s valedictorian at Oyster Bay High School, has always loved school. As a child in Oyster Bay, she often played school, and was always the teacher. Her mother, Stephanie Dean, said Sophia even asked her to buy teacher certificates for the “students” who did well.
“She always loved learning, and put in the extra time,” Stephanie said. “Everything had to be done 100 percent. She was a perfectionist since an early age.”
Sophia, 18, is graduating with a weighted grade point average of 110. She will attend Brown University in the fall.
She attributes her academic success in part to her love of school, which, she said, makes it easier to stay motivated. She added that she also has a good memory, and was always focused in class.
Although Dean studied hard, she may have had a more challenging path than other students, because she had less time to study. She competed on the high school cross-country and track teams.
Dean has studied, ballet, tap and contemporary dance at the Mossa Dance Academy in New Hyde Park, 45 minutes from her home. Her mother initially chose the school because a friend owned it. At the time, she wasn’t concerned about the distance, because she had no idea that her daughter would study there for 15 years. But Sophia was a good dancer, and she loved it.
She dances three times a week, for a total of 10 to 12 hours, and competes on weekends. And she has had much success, having been selected as a “dance ambassador,” and the Mossa Academy had the highest overall score at nationals at the American Dance Awards. As a child, Dean wanted to become a fashion designer, then an author. And although she never planned to become a professional dancer, it was a creative outlet. She is now focused on science, but dancing still makes sense, she said.
“I like performing and the mind-body connection,” Dean explained. “It feels very special to me.”
Stephanie said her daughter is the nicest, kindest girl, someone other children have looked up to.
“My husband and I still don’t understand how Sophia has always managed to do everything,” her mother said. “A lot of times she would have her books on her lap during the drive, and would study. College may end up being calmer for her.”
Sophia began to think seriously about a career in science and research when she took a biology class, and when she added a living environment class, she was hooked.
“What I like about science is it’s nice to know how things work,” she said. “There are many details about it I enjoy. I got frustrated with the humanities because of how subjective it is. Science is more tangible to me.”
She was involved in Partners for the Future, an internship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, this year. Her mentor, she said, was supportive, and helped her understand complex information.
She was able to do hands-on projects at the lab, which she presented recently at a symposium. Her project was finding ways to recreate a model of prostate cancer in mice.
Dean has loved attending Oyster Bay-East Norwich schools, and said she would miss not only her friends, but also her teachers.
“Oyster Bay is tiny, so it’s easy to see everyone in the hallways,” she said. “It’s easy to get close to everyone. And we have really great teachers. I remember all of them, and they remember me. I love our teachers.”
Her advice to other students is to stay focused and motivated — and most important, not to stress out over the little things. “It’s very easy to get burned out,” she said. “If I could do it again, I’d be calmer and stay more relaxed.”
