Wildcat Staff Writer Elleanna Vannarath (’26) interviews one of Brea Olinda High School’s valedictorians, Jacob Quion (‘26), and salutatorians, Nikki Albano (’26), about their journeys to the top of BOHS’s graduating class.
Host: Elléanna Vannarath (’26)
Guests: Nikki Albano (’26), Jacob Quion (’26)
Producer: Evelyn Nethers (’29)
Sound Effect: Mauricio Póvoa from Pixabay
Transcript
Elléanna Vannarath (00:04): Hello, welcome back to the Wildcat Podcast. I’m Elléanna Vanrath and I’m here with Jacob Quion, Valedictorian, and Nikki Albano, Salutatorian.
Elléanna (00:16): On today’s episode, we’re going to do a little Q&A on their experiences and if they want to share any advice for the future BOHS students who will want to also be one of the top students when they graduate. My first question for you guys is, How did it feel when you officially found out you guys were Valedictorian and Sal?
Jacob Quion (00:34): Yeah, for sure. I think it felt really rewarding at the end of the day when all of our hard work after the last four years paid off, but it also serves as a reminder that regardless of what we do next in life, we should really match whatever we just achieved.
Elléanna (00:48): What about you, Nikki?
Nikki Albano (00:49): Yeah, same thing. It was really especially rewarding because you put in all this work these last four years and when you’re facing college rejections and things, to be rewarded with a title like this, it makes you realize, oh, outside of this, there’s going to be rejections, but there’s also going to be successes. So there’s going to be a mix of both and you’re just going to have to learn to take it with the good and the bad.
Elléanna (01:10): I see. That’s a really good answer. And how did you balance schoolwork and outside of life?
Nikki (01:17): So for me, I just had to stay really organized as best as I could. I’m not the most organized person to begin with. So I somewhat struggled with that, especially at the end of the year during senior year and throughout senior year to begin with. Freshman year and sophomore year, I was more motivated because I wanted to become a Sal or a Val. But at the end of the day, during senior year, I was exhausted or I was just very unmotivated, but I had to constantly remind myself of what my end goal was.
Elléanna (01:45): How about you, Jacob?
Jacob (01:48): Yeah, just like Nikki was saying, we only have a finite number of hours in a day, so it’s very important to be on top of time management. I think having your priorities set straight, are you going to focus a lot on academia? Do you want to have a social life? Maybe a little bit of both. So just having that time management is really how you achieve that school life balance.
Elléanna (02:06): And I know GPA is everything, so how are you able to stay consistent by being part of the top ranking?
Nikki (02:15): I had to just dedicate a lot of my time to my studies. Even when I was really exhausted from tennis or activities throughout the day, I had to come home and finish hours of work or hours of studying just to make sure I got a good grade on a test. And as someone who is unable to retain information really well during classroom sessions, it took especially long to go home and study, but seeing the grades afterward was very rewarding.
Elléanna (02:43): Okay. What about you, Jacob? Or how were you able to achieve consistency?
Jacob (02:48): For sure. I think it really starts with the mindset. I didn’t really go into high school thinking, wow, I want to be Val or Sal. I sort of just went into it with the approach of I just want to learn the most. I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a career or as a professional. So I think just coming in every day with a mindset of I want to learn the most really helped me be consistent.
Elléanna (03:07): All right. And for my next question, what is your definition of success and has that changed when you were starting as a freshman till now as a graduate senior?
Jacob (03:18): Yeah, the definition of success has definitely changed from when I was a freshman to a senior. I think when I was an underclassman, I thought of success as achievement and material things. Maybe I just got a great grade on a test or I just did something incredible. I want a science fair or a competition. But now as an 18-year old, I sort of think of success as what did I gain from this experience? Did I learn something new about someone? Did I talk to a new friend? Did I make a new connection? So that’s how my definition has changed.
Elléanna (03:47): That’s solid. How about you, Nikki?
Nikki (03:49): I would say it hasn’t really changed that much for me, but it has developed a little more. I would still say success for myself is in those rewarding grades because when I see the hours of my work paid off in good grades, there’s no better feeling for me. But then now after these past four years and after countless rejections throughout these past four years, I’ve found that success isn’t really passing or failing. It’s more like, can you be proud of what you did at the end of the day? And could you share these things with other people and not be embarrassed about it?
Elléanna (04:25): All right. And what does it mean for you guys to be a top student?
Nikki (04:31): For myself, I would say a top student is not necessarily high GPA, but the drive to learn. There’s a lot of people that are really smart, really good learners, but aren’t great test takers or don’t work well under pressure, so they don’t have the best grades. And there are also Sals and Vals the past years that may not have…they have the best grades, but they may not be the brightest because they just work hard to achieve the grades and then forget the material in the end. So at the end of the day, it’s not really what comes down to the grades, but were you able to take something from all of the classes you’ve taken throughout these past four years and actually use it in your life?
Elléanna (05:15): All right, that’s good. How about you?
Jacob (05:17): No, I love that. Being a top student really is about learning and growth. Like Nikki was saying, it’s not about the GPA at all. GPA is very arbitrary, not really a good sliding skill metric of how well a student can perform. I think in terms specifically of what learning is, I think it’s a huge component of learning is just reflection. Learning from what mistakes I made? Did I just take this test and I didn’t do well? Did I maybe have a bad interaction with a teacher or a friend? So I think just learning from the things where it didn’t necessarily go your way and how can I augment my behavior in the future to achieve better outcomes?
Elléanna (05:54): Yeah. And then who would you say motivated you most in your four years of high school?
Nikki (06:00): So for myself, it was definitely my mom. She was always my driving reason for doing well in school. She always told me, “Nikki, I’m a single mom. I’m taking care of you and your brother. The least you could do for me is do well in school.” And it’s not just for her, but for myself, I really wanted to show myself that you could do what you put your mind into. Once you set your mind to do something, as long as you stay to it and put the work in, you’re going to be okay. And if you’re unable to achieve things you’re hoping for, it’s just not the time at the moment and you’ll find a way there at the end.
Elléanna (06:35): Is there anyone, someone you want to mention that helped you throughout this journey?
Jacob (06:39): I’d say my two biggest motivators were my parents. My parents immigrated here from the Philippines when they were young, when they were first generation immigrants. And prior to that, their education was taken away by Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorship because they were from the Philippines. So they really valued education and they really motivated me to always be on top of my work and just to really excel in education because they never have that opportunity.
Elléanna (07:08): And is there anything that you’re most excited for when we graduate and go off to college?
Nikki (07:14): For sure. I would say the freedom while high school provides a structure and a lot of students, myself included, is going to miss that structure. There’s a freedom after high school that during high school and the years prior, it just isn’t there. You could finally choose what to wear. You don’t have to follow a dress code. You can choose your classes, choose your schedule. And in high school, it’s a bit draining to have to constantly make sure you’re following other people’s rules. I’m not saying there aren’t rules in college you have to follow or in other jobs or trade schools or whatever, but it’s definitely more you’re taking care of yourself.You’re really out there on your own now.
Elléanna (07:56): How about you? What is one thing you’re excited for for college?
Jacob (07:59): I’m super excited to meet new people. I think living in the Brea bubble for the last, what, 18 years, you sort of see the same people over and over. And I love the people at Brea, but I’m really looking forward to meeting brand new people from new walks of life and new ideas.
Elléanna (08:13): And is there any advice you want to give to the underclassmen? What would you say?
Jacob (08:18): Yeah, I’d say my biggest piece of advice. If you played Minecraft, you got to slay the slimes before you slay the Ender Dragon. In other words, you have to be able to do the basics, the fundamentals like talk to your teachers or do the homework before you can achieve those big awards or that final grade. So just really focusing on those basics. I think that’s my biggest piece of advice I’d give to an underclassmen.
Elléanna (08:40): All right. What would you give to an underclassmen?
Nikki (08:43): I would say if I was an underclasswoman looking for advice, I would want to hear two things. One is, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are always people here that are willing to help you even when it feels like you’re all by yourself and it could be for anything, academics, your future, your mental health, anything. And also it’s not all going to go how you plan it. You’re going to face failures, you’re going to face challenges. And when you face those, you can’t give up. You have to just run through it and accept that. It’s going to keep happening throughout your life. And if you constantly give up when you’re facing these, you’re never going to make it to your end goal. You’re always going to give up before you’re just there.
Elléanna (09:25): Yeah. All right. Well, thank you both for joining me on the Wildcat Podcast.
Jacob (09:31): I’m Jacob Quion, your Valedictorian.
Nikki (09:33): I’m Nikki Albano, your salutatorian.
Elléanna (09:35): And congrats to the Class of 2026 and I’ll see you on the next one.
