Senior Michael Colavita has spent the last four years of high school working on things that some students may find unimaginable. From being the president of the programming club to performing in the WA Marching Band, Colavita has shown that his work has paid off. On June 5th 2016, graduation day, he will be the valedictorian for the class of 2016.

To achieve this success, Colavita says he wasn’t trying to be the class valedictorian, but wanted to push himself to be the best student he could be.

“My goal in high school wasn’t to be valedictorian, I was just trying to do my best the whole time […] and I was doing my best just so I could live up to my own expectations for myself,” Colavita said.

Throughout his high school career Colavita took several rigorous classes such as AP computer science, AP chemistry, as well as AP biology. For his senior year, he took a total of four AP classes.

Outside of academics, Colavita was also the president of the programming club, a member of the math team and jazz band, and a drum major in WA Marching band. In addition, Colavita also worked on the pit orchestra for WA musicals and even did symphonic winds with the orchestra.

When it comes to music, Colavita speaks highly of band director George Arsenault, who instructed him for his four years of marching band experience.

“I managed to do band all four years, so band is something that is important to me. I really loved [Arsenault] as a teacher,” Colavita said.

Most recently, Colavita worked on a senior project with fellow senior classmate, Alok Puranik. The project, was an attempt to make a brand new programming language. In addition, Colavita also recently worked on an independent study for computer science.

“[The independent study] is kind of an extension of [the senior project] because one of the things I focused on was compiler design, and so the senior project is essentially just applying that in practice,” said Colavita.

As for underclassmen, Colavita has some advice students who want to be in a similar position to him.

“Take classes you actually enjoy and don’t just try to take the classes that will look best on your transcript, or the GPA. […] I think there is a much greater benefit to yourself to take classes that you actually enjoy, instead of just taking classes for credit,” Colavita said.

Furthermore, Colavita also recommends students pursue the things that they like, rather than pursue the things that look best.

“I don’t think it really serves a purpose to just be taking as many [AP classes] as you possibly can. […] pick classes that you’re  generally interested in, and pursue your passions wherever they may be […],” Colavita said.

In the end, having been in so many advanced classes, Colavita admits that his sleep schedule has suffered over the years, but he always wanted to try his best on all of his assignments.

“I always made it a priority to try my best on all of my assignments. I just keep working on things until I am happy with the extent to which they’re done,” Colavita said.

His band teacher, Aresenault, says he will miss the type of student and person that Colavita has been at WA.

“In this age of data points and bubble tests, it is nice to know that there are students like Michael that are able to achieve academic excellence while not forgetting to develop a sense of community, artistry and purpose,” Arsenault said. “I will truly miss Michael’s presence in our music community, and I’m sure I’m not the only teacher who will miss his participation in the learning process.”

Next fall, Colavita will attend Harvard University in Cambridge, where he will major in computer science.