“Find the little things that make you happy and the big things that bring you joy,” said Dorothy Piech, the Corning-Painted Post High School Class of 2024 Valedictorian. Her theme in her commencement speech to her classmates centered around finding what is important, or worth it, and realizing that answering that question requires perspective and balance. In looking back at the work, time, effort, and support needed to get to graduation she said, “This moment, and what came before and what will come after, is worth it.” She added what is “worth it” is an individual choice, and encouraged her classmates to think about that question. The answer is not the same for everybody and that is part of what makes the question so important. “Think about what is big or small, impactful or innocuous, and use that power to help you make that choice.” She said, “I hope by considering what you think is worth it, you can make the best choices for yourself. You are worth it.”
Dorothy, who started in the CPP District at Winfield Street Elementary and continued her academic journey at ASMS and then CPPHS, will be attending one of the world’s leading universities in the fall, Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire. She plans to major in biology with a focus on research. “I have a particular interest in molecular research and also in animal behavior,” Dorothy said.
At CPPHS, she was a Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Tesserae Yearbook and outside of school she has been a dedicated dance student at 171 Cedar Arts Center since a very young age. She remarked how much she enjoys performing in dance, specifically modern, tap, and ballet. Her love of the arts extends to piano, where she has an interest in classical and jazz music. In addition, she enjoys baking, specifically desserts. She is also an avid reader.
She said she is looking forward to her next step and the ability to do research at the university level. As a high school student she took French, and said, “I also would like to learn more languages at the college level.”
“Thank you to the people that made every day worth it for me,” she said during her commencement address, mentioning her family, teachers and friends. She said, “Was this worth it? I think that it was.”
For an article on CPPHS Class of 2024 Salutatorian Alex Peng, visit this link