Oyster Bay High School valedictorian is passionate about science

Ania Kelly describes herself as a “science person,” and she hopes to focus on research when she starts classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. But Oyster Bay High School’s 2004 valedictorian added that she doesn’t plan to remain behind a microscope in the future.

“I want a people-facing career,” the lifelong Oyster Bay resident said, “either in medicine or dental school.”

Most would agree that Kelly’s unweighted grade point average of 99.66, and her weighted average of 114.46, is evidence that she has the smarts to pursue either career. Having taken 12 Advanced Placement courses at OBHS, including biology — which Kelly, 18, said led her to want to make it her college major — and done research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, she seems destined to thrive in science.

Kelly took part in Partners for the Future at the lab, spending 10 hours a week there from last June until March. She combined chemistry and biology to produce proteins that CSHL will use for other experiments. Often the only high school student at the lab, she worked alongside post-doctoral students.

“It really pushed me, and made me a better student in all aspects of life,” Kelly said. “I do see myself going back in the future, and expanding rather than being told what to do. My mentor said I can go back during my summer vacations.”

As for her acceptance at MIT, she couldn’t be happier. “It was my first choice, and I was surprised because nobody thinks they can get in,” she said. “I was extremely happy.”

The secret to her success? Kelly said she tailors her study habits to the subject.

“When I was younger, my mom said you can’t study for math, but I don’t think that’s true,” she said. “You have to learn how to study for different subjects as you go through high school. I found my own way making study guides.”

For the humanities, she would fill a whiteboard with information, then erase it and add more.

“Taking pictures of it –— seeing it and writing on a whiteboard — it helps me remember it,” she explained. “People did tell me writing helps you remember, but I don’t like to do that on paper. Writing it on a whiteboard makes it more fun.”

Kelly said she loved the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District’s small size, which made it easy to get to know other students.

“Everyone is there to support you,” she said. “Any time you need help, there’s people you can reach out to. I know everyone in my grade, and everyone is nice to each other.”

Kelly isn’t just a scholar. She began rowing in eighth grade, and is now a five-time state champion and two-time bronze medalist in national competition. Her best friend, OBHS salutatorian Deanna Besart, was in the boat with her for all of her championship races.
Friends since the fifth grade, they were partners in double sculls for four years at the Oak Neck Rowing Academy. After the pandemic lockdown in the summer of 2020, the first thing the girls did was return to rowing.

“We’re really close,” Kelly said. “During Covid, while we were doing online school, we’d text and call and FaceTime all day long. We always support each other and push each other to be better.”
When she and Besart were juniors, however, she said, school could get tense at times, as the valedictorian and salutatorian were being determined.

“I tried to never see anything as competition,” Kelly said. “We didn’t tell each other about our grades for a while.”

Apart from academics, she is the founder and president of the French Club, having developed a passion for the language when she was in seventh grade. And she has been active on the Student Council, serving as vice president as a freshman and as publicity officer as a junior and senior. For the past two years she has been a member of the executive board.

“That gave me leadership skills, and the ability to advocate for those not on it,” she said.
She was also a member of the STEM Research Group in her sophomore year, when she conducted research in Oyster Bay Harbor and presented her findings at the Long Island Sound Summit to raise awareness of water pollution, she said.

Kelly has been skiing since she was 3, and began teaching children the sport when she was in freshman. “I love working with kids and love skiing, so I combine the two,” she said. “I love to give the kids the confidence they need to ski on their own.”

She has some advice for students who will continue working their way through high school.

“Find what you enjoy learning about and use that to your advantage, and spend as much time as you can learning about it,” Kelly said. “Don’t go to school because you have to go. Go because you want to.”