Gavin Chen is the Wayne Valley Valedictorian for the Class of 2026. He will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall and majoring in electrical and computer engineering. His plans while in college include searching for a summer internship as well as doing a study abroad program, preferably somewhere in Asia, like Malaysia or Indonesia. In the future, he wants to become a Power Engineer.
At Wayne Valley, Gavin is involved in both the varsity tennis team and the Quiz Bowl team. Sophomore Addison Houlihan shares that “his participation in Quiz Bowl has been crucial, as he is one of the mainstay members for this Wayne Valley club.” Additionally, this year Gavin played 1st doubles on the tennis team and, with his partner Ivan Chen, made it to the Passaic County finals, earning a second-team all-county award.
When asked about his biggest regret, Gavin said he wished he had started interacting with people earlier in high school, as he did not start branching out until his senior year. However, the connections and bonds that he did make with his peers had an impact on his high school journey.
Although it was tough to balance both academics and extracurriculars, especially with his tendency to procrastinate, Gavin tried something different in his senior year and used the application Google Tasks. He said that Google Tasks was very helpful in managing his time, and he will be utilizing this tool in college.
Gavin revealed that his favorite class at Valley is AP Literature. He explains that in AP Lit, his “reading skills greatly improved because of [his] amazing teacher, Mrs. Cielusniak,” who really cares about all of her students.
His favorite teacher at Wayne Valley is Mrs. Ahlert. When he took AP Biology with her, although it was challenging, it forced him to adapt and learn better techniques to study. Gavin also notes that Mrs. Ahlert was a fantastic listener and an example where she showed her care was through her extra credit questions on tests, which asked not about biology-related topics, but about her students’ lives.
His favorite aspect of Wayne Valley was the teachers he had. Gavin notes that “All the teachers I’ve had have been good and I’ve had positive relationships with all of them. They’ve helped me grow not just as a student but also as a person.”
Wayne Valley is proud to have such an exceptional student. Good luck, Gavin, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!
