Academic All-Stars:Valedictorian Patrick Adolphus Off to Harvard and Salutatorian Amy Ly will be Attending Tufts

Since his childhood, Patrick Adolphus always wanted to be a Harvard Crimson.

Patrick Adolphus and Amy Ly, valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2018. They will graduate
with their classmates on Thursday, June 7.

He still has pictures of when he was 10 years old, Adolphus said, decked out in a Harvard hat or a Harvard T-shirt.

Now, nearly a decade later, Adolphus’ dream has come true, as the Revere High School (RHS) senior and the valedictorian of the 2018 RHS class will head to Harvard University next year.

“I’ve wanted to go to Harvard for some time  – since I was a kid,” Adolphus said after the RHS Senior Scholarship Awards Ceremony. “I’m happy I finally achieved that.”

At Harvard, Adolphus will be on a pre-medical track with a concentration in social sciences—although he noted he’s considering concentration in math and chemistry. He also considered Boston College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Northeastern University and Brown University.

Finishing atop of what RHS principal Dr. Lourenco Garcia projects to be the school’s “largest class in recent years,” Adolphus didn’t always expect himself to be there, he said. “I started ranked 25, so it was a slow and steady climb,” Adolphus said. “I’m happy that I pulled it off by senior year.”

When it comes to his growth, however, Adolphus said his biggest growth came socially. Having attended Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge prior to coming to RHS as a freshman, Adolphus said he enjoyed getting to create new relationships.

“I learned how to relate to other people more,” he said. “I became a lot more social.”

On that note, salutatorian Amy Ly agreed: “I’m also happy about my academic achievements, but also my social growth,” she said, as passing students congratulated her on her achievements. “I started off really shy, but I’ve grown and made a lot of my connections.”

After considering Boston College and Brandeis University, Ly chose to attend Tufts University, where she will study cognitive and brain sciences.

“[After visiting the different schools] I really liked the student body that was there, and academically, the courses are very rigorous,” Ly said.

At the awards ceremony, Adolphus and Ly received seven different honors.

Adolphus received the Louis Fox and Julian and Sadye Karger Scholarship, the Dr. Elizabeth Miller Scholarship/MGH Revere Health Care Center Scholarship, the MASSPORT Scholarship, the Mickey “Say No To Drugs” Casoli Scholar Athlete Award and the Revere Runs 5k Scholarship.

“As a school community, we are proud of Amy’s and Patrick’s accomplishments as Revere High School students,” said Diana Finn, director of guidance. “Their success is a testament to their hard work and dedication to their academics, as well as their extra-curricular activities.”

With their high school careers now behind, the two shared their excitement for what’s ahead:

“My teacher said it’s a tabula rasa: It’s a fresh start, and I can become whoever I want to be, and I’m excited to meet a whole bunch of people,” Ly said.

“I’m excited to move on, to live by myself and start a new chapter of my life,” Adolphus said.

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