Seng, Korngor pace Shea in academic excellence
PAWTUCKET – Ask newest Shea High School valedictorian Marissa Seng how she ever survived the pandemic as a freshman, she shrugs as if to say, “I really don’t know.
“I know distance learning was very difficult,” she said during an interview recently. “We were so isolated. I didn’t talk much to my teachers or to my schoolmates. I don’t even remember who my classmates were back then, but I did know I had to keep pushing academically even though I was physically in school.
“I missed the interaction with my friends; it didn’t feel like high school,” she added. “But then when we came back, that was tough, too, because you had to learn how to talk to people again. Having to wear a mask didn’t help, either. I was always a very shy person to begin with.”
When asked how she persevered, that was the easy part, she said.
“I always had good grades, so it always meant a lot for me to do well,” she recalled. “I didn’t want to disappoint my parents,” mom Lyno Sorm and dad David Seng. “That’s what drove me more than anything.”
Seng explained she and salutatorian Melissa Korngor had been called to Guidance Department Chair Elizabeth Fasteson’s office about a month ago, and that’s when they learned they had earned the Raiders’ top two academic spots. What stunned both was Seng had collected a weighted GPA of 4.18 while Korngor sat only two-thousandths of a point behind at 4.16.
“When she told us, I kind of knew I was the valedictorian, but I was still surprised,” Seng said. “I knew last year I was No. 1, but this year, I thought I slipped a little bit.”
Added Korngor: “My first thought was, ‘Wow, that’s really close!’ I didn’t know how close, but I really had no clue. My mind was just set on finishing strong. I didn’t think about class rink; I wasn’t concerned that much about being the
val or sal. I was surprised when I heard I finished second, but wasn’t living or dying for it.”
If there’s one thing that can be said for both students, they more than earned those accolades.
Not only did Seng rein in her schoolwork, she also participated in a number of extracurricular activities and community events.
She’s a member of the National and Chinese honor societies, and also the Shea Book Club, Arts & Crafts Club. Earlier in her scholastic career, she played the guitar for the school’s Glee Club, and decided as a junior to join the outdoor track & field team.
That same year, she captured the Harvard Book Award.
Seng has yet to decide where she will further her academic education, but is pondering both Boston University and Providence College at this point of her senior campaign. She hopes to study neuroscience, though warned “that could change.
“That field has always fascinated me,” she said. “I really enjoy watching crime shows and reading True Crimes books; I read a whole lot. The thing is, I’m also interested in criminal justice; I like to research and study behaviors. I wouldn’t become a police officer, but I am interested in the research end of why people act the way they do.”
As for Korngor, she called her introduction to high school as a freshman harrowing, especially with COVID still present.
“Distance learning was such a challenge,” she said. “It was something I never had to go through before, and it was extra scary. We were all home; no one could go out, and I was new at Shea because I had gone to private school. I wasn’t used to public school. All of my schoolmates knew each other from years in school.
“The beginning of freshman year, that was really tough; my grades slipped, but I still knew I had to push myself,” she continued. “I kept doing that, and I knew I could get through it. The last three years got progressively easier.”
Korngor claimed that came as she began to put herself out there; she joined clubs and teams and became known to her fellow schoolmates.
A list of those extracurriculars and outside organizations is beyond impressive: It starts with being a member of the National and Chinese honor societies, a Student Council representative as a junior and senior and Senior Class Treasurer and Key Club Secretary as an 11th-grader and Vice President in 12th.
A football cheerleader as a junior, she co-founded the Shea Multilingual Ambassador Club; was an Individual Learning Plan Student Ambassador; hosted the Shea Blood Drive; joined the Yearbook Club; and was a key cog in Shea Fashion shows her final three years.
She also was a member of the Pawtucket Teen Advisory Board; volunteered for a healthcare nonprofit organization named Best Seeds, and helped write letters of support and encouragement to healthcare workers and patients; and was a fashion ambassador for Nordstrom’s.
She also snagged the Montie & Catherine F. Ciarlo Memorial Scholarship for outstanding performances in English Language Arts; and won the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for completing 250 hours of community service.
Korngor hopes to attend New York University come fall to study nursing, though with her penchant for fashion and modeling, she’s thinking about a minor in fashion design.
“My mom’s a nurse, and so was my grandfather, but that’s not why I’m interested in that field,” she said. “I just genuinely enjoy helping others and giving them health and joy.
“I have to say I’m going to miss all of my friends and teachers here at Shea, and also all the events we had,” she added. “We had so much fun; we became such a tight-knit community after we all came back. We formed so many bonds, and we became like a family. I’ll never forget that.”