At the head of their South Side High School class

Though they find themselves on separate teams for the annual Red & Blue competition, South Side High School’s valedictorian and salutatorian have a few things in common.

The valedictorian, Emily Passarelli, and the salutatorian, Carly Roman, are both science-oriented, versatile and, perhaps most impressive, modest.

“It feels very surreal. There’s a lot of competition between our grade so it could have gone either way,” Passarelli said. “It was something that I had hoped for, but not something that I expected.”

Roman echoed the idea, saying that the honor could have gone to any number of her friends. “We all work together and encourage each other, motivate each other to work hard,” she said. “It could have been anyone.”

Passarelli, who demonstrated an affinity for science in a number of International Baccalaureate classes, said she was looking forward to exploring her options after graduation. “I feel like discovery is the whole point of college,” she said. “In high school you just get a taste of all the subjects. Science and English are completely opposite ends of the spectrum, so I want to go take some classes in college and figure it out.”

Though she is still undecided about where she will go to college and what she might major in, Passarelli, who has applied to several Ivy League schools, has already left her mark on the science world. For the past two summers, she has worked with a professor at the University of Maine, investigating environmental issues associated with red tide, an accumulation of algae. The work will be published, and Passarelli will be listed as a co-author.

Roman has also displayed an expertise in science through her Intel Science Talent Search project on positive psychology. With the help of a mentor professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Roman studied the levels of optimism of elderly people in nursing homes.

She said she hopes to continue her study of psychology at Penn, starting this fall. “[Positive psychology] is something that has always interested me, and it involves keeping a positive attitude in order to achieve positive results,” Roman said. “I’m drawn to this field somehow, and I think it’s something I’ll use in my future career, whether as a doctor, a psychologist or a social worker.”

Both students’ abilities extend well beyond the classroom. Passarelli has played the clarinet for nearly eight years, while Roman is a drummer. “Music has been the thing that has steered me,” Passarelli said. “It’s had a stabilizing effect. It’s a release from stress.”

Roman is a founder of Rockville Centre’s Glamour Gals, which provides free manicures and beauty treatments during friendly intergenerational visits with the residents of Maple Pointe Assisted Living.

And the honorees find the time to stay physically active as well, Passarelli as a swimmer and Roman through soccer.

It’s no surprise that both described their families as fully supportive: Each has an older sister who was named valedictorian of South Side.

Though graduation is a ways off, the valedictorian and salutatorian speeches are already on their minds. “It’s a little tricky, because it’s not like you’re really that much more mature or wiser … than everybody else,” Passarelli said. “I definitely think that I’d like to come up with something inspirational, though.”