Irvington High School has named its seniors Joshua Chang and Alexander Lee as co-valedictorians of the Class of 2022. Both accomplished students said they were honored to share the school’s top recognition.
Chang is known for his inquisitive mind, deep desire to learn and expansive breadth of interests. He has taken the most rigorous courses that Irvington has to offer, in addition to participating in several college-level courses at a local college. He has also volunteered in a plethora of ways both in school and the community. He attributed his success to his curiosity, organizational skills, independence and consistency, as well as the unwavering support of his family, teachers and friends.
“I could not have asked for a better place than Irvington schools to spend the last 13 years,” Chang said. “Irvington always supported me as I grew and learned, and I found a strong community. I feel like I know almost everyone in my grade, which has made me feel at home wherever I go. Most of all, I will miss my friends and the comradery of our class.”
Chang is the managing editor of the online edition of his school’s newspaper, Paw Print, and member of the Yearbook, varsity bowling team and Science Research Program, for which he completed a research project using machine learning to assess the impact of snow on road safety. He is also passionate about coding and has built new websites for his school newspaper and high school art department. Throughout high school, he has served as a teaching assistant in French and Earth Science. Following his fascination for weather, he has been providing forecasts to the community for snow days on his Instagram page. Outside of school, he has volunteered to help combat food insecurity, distributing food to people in need during the pandemic.
While Chang hasn’t decided what college he will attend in the fall, he plans to pursue computer science.
One of Lee’s greatest strengths is his genuineness and ability to connect and communicate. He is known for his passion for languages, having excelled in Latin and Greek since he entered high school. He has also mastered the English language and written multiple short stories for competitions. In addition, his mastery of the spoken language has led him to be a leader on the Mock Trial team, where he is known to be thoughtful, engaging and competitive. Lee attributed his success to his strong work ethic and the guidance of his teachers, mentors and peers.
“IHS has truly nurtured my development as a lifelong learner,” Lee said. “I have experienced so much at Irvington in so few years. After all, the Class of 2022 experienced what felt like the full COVID-19 journey: the transition to a pandemic lifestyle at the end of sophomore year, months of distance learning as a junior, and the optimistic return to normalcy signaled by our return to in-person learning. Being on this journey has made me realize how much I’ll miss the benefits of being part of a tight-knit community like Irvington in which empathy is ubiquitous. Everyone knows and supports one another, so there is a genuine feeling that we’re all in the same boat together.”
Since freshman year, Lee has been a member of the Mock Trial and varsity tennis teams, as well as a member of the jazz ensemble, Model United Nations and National Honor Society. Outside of school, he was an editor of an international literary magazine, and his writing has been published in literary journals and received awards at a national level. He was also an instructor at a nonprofit organization, where he taught Latin and psychology remotely to middle school students around the world. In addition, he has played the piano since he was five years old.
Lee will attend Brown University, where he plans to study classical languages and literature while also exploring and discovering new interests.