HARLINGEN — She didn’t see it coming.
Mercedes Vasquez had spent long hours studying to make top grades so she could enroll in a good college on scholarships.
Then out of the blue she heard the word “salutatorian” and it was directed at Mercedes, who will graduate Friday night from Early College High School.
“It feels so unreal,” said Mercedes, 18. “It’s not something that I really worked for, I just tried my hardest and this is where it got me.”
Her friend Katelynn Renteria, 18, is this year’s valedictorian at ECHS.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Katelynn said. “It’s very rewarding to know that all the hard work has led up to this.”
Katelynn, who is also an award-winning author, had a well-developed method of study.
“I’m a very visual learner,” she said. “I use color-coded note cards, colored study guides. I like to see colors.”
Mercedes took a very different end toward the same purpose.
“I work really well with groups of people,” she said. “Here at ECHS we have a lot of tutorial classes. If there was a big final I would stay up late.”
Both students thank their parents for their support.
“They always pushed me to try my best and picked me up when I slipped and fell,” Katelynn said. “Sometimes I thought, ‘Am I really going to be able to do this?’ They helped me get through.”
They also gave kudos to calculus teacher Carla Lopez.
“She’s very academically driven,” Mercedes said. “She’s very young and she’s already got two master’s degrees. She inspired me. She got me interested in calculus, which is really difficult because calculus is really hard.”
Katelynn appreciated Lopez’s upbeat attitude.
“She’s so positive and very encouraging, very enthusiastic,” Katelynn said. “She was very motivational.”
Curiously, both young ladies plan to pursue psychology at UTRGV, albeit different fields.
“I’m going into experimental research, learn how the brain works, why we are the way we are,” Katelynn said.
Mercedes has a different goal in mind.
“I want to become a counselor,” she said. “My counselors in my past have influenced me.”
Katelynn said her second novel will be out soon. She will continue writing in the midst of her studies.
