Vocational School Valedictorian Learned a Little Science, a Little About People

He has learned about working as a team and relying on his friends, but now Bridgewater resident Shariq Madha is excited to have been named the valedictorian of the ’s Class of 2011.

“I was very pleased to learn I was valedictorian,” he said.

Madha decided to attend the vocational school after learning about the opportunity to be part of its new  program, through which he would earn both a high school diploma and an associates degree from Raritan Valley Community College.

Students in this very demanding program receive both a high school education and an associate’s degree in general science through the vocational school and Raritan Valley Community College. They take classes at both the high school and college levels.

“I thought that the opportunity presented by the Academy for Health and Medical Sciences was great, and so I joined as a freshman,” Madha said.

And this chosen course of study, Madha said, will be particularly beneficial for him in his college years, and for his goal of becoming a practicing physician.

Madha said he will be attending college at McGill University in Montreal where he will study biochemistry.

While at the vocational school, Madha earned his associates degree from Raritan Valley where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, in addition to his high school diploma.

Outside of his schoolwork, Madha serves as an emergency medical technician, and is a member of both the Phi Theta Kappa Honorary at Raritan Valley Community College and the vocational school’s National Honor Society.

But Madha said being at the vocational school has taught him a great deal about people as well. He said he knows he missed out on the large school feel of the district high school, but is still pleased with the choice he made.

“This made up for it by the opportunities presented to me, and the fact that a small student body is not bad either,” he said. “And I learned that there are plenty of people around you that are in the same shoes that you are, and everyone can work together to produce greater results.”

But the most important thing he learned, Madha said, is about give and take.

“I learned that your friends will always be there for you as long as you are there for them,” he said.