Sometimes in life, you get lucky. Nauset Public Schools got lucky almost two decades ago when Alyia Vasquez was enrolled in school by her mother, Liberty. In the words of her guidance counselor, Stephen Boskus, “ Alyia Vasquez is, without question, one of the most exceptional and exciting students I have worked with during my thirty plus year career. Positive, bright, engaged and giving, she is an asset for our school and the greater community. Alyia is a leader without trying to lead and she “raises the level of the game” in each course she takes.” Every person I spoke with to prepare for this evening, in fact, mentioned Alyia’s intelligence, curiosity, creativity and positive outlook.
Alyia is indeed intelligent and hard working. Her official grade point average is a 4.72, she is ranked first in her class of 200 students, and she has taken 11 AP courses. She has won 12 different academic awards, including the departmental awards in science, English, math and history. She was recognized by Big Future for “National Hispanic Award,” and “National Rural and Small Town Award.” And, I know it will shock everyone listening to hear that Alyia is president of the local National Honor Society. Next year, Alyia will enter Columbia University as a biochemistry major and Spanish minor.
Also notable is how Alyia achieved all this success through not just hard work, but by having curiosity and creativity as well. Alyia is a genuinely inquisitive student who is a standout in every classroom, radiating a quiet confidence. Her natural curiosity drives her to ask thoughtful questions and explore subjects thoroughly. For her final project in AP Biology last year, and in a heartfelt tribute to her journey with Type I diabetes, Alyia meticulously embroidered a pancreas, turning her personal experience into a piece of art that symbolizes her resilience and strength. Alyia’s interests extend beyond the classroom; for instance, one science teacher noted “she wonders how decaffeinated coffee is made.” Her curiosity and creativity are demonstrated in many areas of her life, from her hidden talents in drawing, writing, playing the violin, to her interest in film.
Alyia is an active participant in numerous extracurricular activities that support our community and environment. For example, she is a leader within the Coastal Oceanography After School Team (COAST), she volunteers with Marine Fisheries Research and Massachusetts Audubon, and she has added the challenge of an independent study in advanced molecular biology by participating in the Wolbachia Program. Through this immersive lab series, Alyia will collect arthropod species in our local community, obtain DNA sequences of potentially new genetic strains of bacteria and contribute this data to a national genetic database (I’m not even sure what that all means!). Alyia’s unique extracurricular activities reflect her commitment to both academic excellence and community service.
All of these unique accomplishments, and there are many more, reflect Alyia’s intelligence, hard work, curiosity, creativity and positive outlook. For their support towards all her success, Alyia would especially like to thank, at school, her history teacher Andrew Clark, and , at home, her mother Liberty, “who was always there helping me and would have been even if I wasn’t doing well.”
Sometimes in life you get lucky. Nauset Public Schools has been lucky for the last two decades to have Alyia enriching our educational community. And, I predict very soon, the whole world will be lucky as Alyia brings her whole self to problem solving the challenges in the world. Congratulations to Alyia!
Remarks by Assistant Superintendent Kristen Anderson