Central's top graduates have big dreams

Rigorous class schedules and participation in a wealth of extra-curricular activities cemented two Valley Stream Central High School students in their places atop the class of 2014.

Christopher Chong was named the valedictorian with a grade point average three points higher than any other senior. Salutatorian honors went to Tanisha Verneus.

They both learned of their respective distinctions in early February. Chong was sitting in his Advanced Placement psychology course when the assistant principal came in an made the announcement. “It’s an honor, obviously,” he said. “I put the effort in. Hard work pays off.”

Chong said he did it for his mother, who always pushed him to do his best.

Verneus learned her junior year that she was ranked second in the class, and worked hard her final terms to maintain that position. “I made sure I stayed on top of my grades,” she said.

In the fall, Chong will head to the Macaulay Honors College at the City College of New York located in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Among the appealing aspects of the school are free tuition and free housing. Chong also likes the neighborhood and the Victorian-era feel of the campus.

He plans to study physics. His dream is to become a pilot for a commercial airline, or to design airplanes. Chong said he is fascinated by aviation, and has watched numerous documentaries about planes.

Verneus will be attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and plans to be there for the better part of a decade. She will enroll in an eight-year program that would put her straight into medical school.

Her goal is to become a doctor, specifically an anesthesiologist. “I love to help people and put people before myself,” she said. “Medicine is a good way to do that.”

Brown’s open curriculum was particularly enticing to Verneus, who says she will be able to take courses in any subject, not just her major. “You guide your own education,” she said.

The soon-to-be graduates prepared themselves for college by taking advantage of the high-level courses that Central has to offer. Chong took 13 A.P. courses, and his favorites included U.S. government, physics and music theory.