[cincopa AULAk4KVSB47]
By COOPER BROCK
A volunteer veterinarian with a 4.0 unweighted grade point average and a weighted of 5.18, senior Allyse Suganuma is the #1 valedictorian of the class of 2012.
“[I am] a very strong perfectionist. I stress a lot over making everything perfect. Once I heard about it, it was something I wanted to do, and so then I started taking all the hard classes and keeping up my grades because it was a goal I wanted to reach,” Suganuma said.
The second valedictorian of her family, Suganuma looks up to her older brother Kai, who was a valedictorian in the class of 2009.
“My brother was an eagle scout and a valedictorian. He initially struggled with education, but he overcame that, and it was really inspiring. He’s my role model,” Suganuma said.
Although #1 in her class, Suganuma’s study habits don’t reflect her grades.
“I only study on the floor, I hate sitting at tables. I just lay everything out on the floor and spread everything out. It takes up the whole floor,” Suganuma said. “I also really, really dislike reading. I almost fall asleep every time I try to read. I’ll try to and then I keep putting it off, and it never gets done. I hardly ever pleasure read.”
During her junior and senior year, Suganuma volunteered at the Conway Veterinarian Hospital, performing procedures and taking care of pets.
“I started out pretty basic, now they’re letting me do a lot more things now. They let me do a lot of things most interns don’t get to do, like draw blood, or set up a catheter. They’re very experienced over there,” Suganuma said.
Suganuma plans to attend University of Pennsylvania to study biochemistry.
“[High school] was stressful, definitely, very exciting and fun. It was a whole new experience, getting to meet new people, I’ve grown up with the same group of kids from elementary [Shenandoa] to middle [Conway] school,” Suganuma said.”