BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer
SCOTT PILLING staff Matt Brown (Raritan High School, class of 2003), and his sister, Alyssa (class of 2006), both of whom were valedictorians of their respective high school classes. HAZLET – According to his father, Ken Brown, it was a goal for his son, Matthew, to make it to the top of the academic pile at Raritan High School. When he was named valedictorian three years ago, it was not a surprise.
“He always concentrated on it and when it happened I was very happy for him,” Brown said.
For most parents, having one smart kid in the house is good enough. But imagine, having two that are bright enough to be valedictorians?
“Our family, friends, the teachers and principal – everybody’s talking about it,” Brown said.
“It” is the fact that his daughter, Alyssa, was also named valedictorian of Raritan, three years after her older brother was.
“We knew she had a chance, but when she came home and told us, I almost hit the ceiling,” Brown said. “This was a huge accomplishment.”
While Alyssa and her brother apparently worked very hard for the four years of their respective high school careers, Ken Brown is the most proud of what his kids have pulled off.
“This is a great honor for both of them, and I am truly proud to be their father,” Brown said.
Matthew was the top student in middle school as well, so when he was named valedictorian in 2003, it did not come as much of a shock to him. He said he knew all along what his class rank was at Raritan.
“All of my hard work came to a culmination,” Matthew said. “I knew I had worked hard throughout high school.”
His sister is also a hard worker, but she was not so certain that she would ascend to the top spot. Part of her upward movement had nothing to do with her study habits or test-taking skills.
“My mom is my alarm clock,” Alyssa said. “Without her, I’d miss the first three classes of the day. I definitely need to rely on a real alarm clock in college.”
Starting in the fall, Alyssa will be putting her alarm clock to use on the campus of the University of Virginia, where she will start out as a history major.
“I’m into history and English more so than math and science, so I think being a history major will be good,” Alyssa said. “When I visited the campus, it was great down there.”
Also given strong consideration was the University of Pennsylvania, where her brother will enter his fourth year of school. Matt thought it would be a good idea to be close to each other during college, but then thought better of it.
“What if I saw her at a party or something like that? Maybe it’s better that I’ll be at Penn and she’ll be down in Virginia,” Matthew said. “This way, we’ll have our own space.”
Both made special mention of the two people who helped them on their way to the top.
“Our parents had a huge impact on what we’ve accomplished,” Alyssa said. “They’re both extremely intelligent people. Without them in our lives, I’m not sure my brother and I would have done as well.”
“The biggest thing was that my parents made sure we did stuff other than schoolwork all the time. That made us into well-rounded people,” Matthew said.
Although the two might seem to be perfect in so many ways, they are brother and sister.
“Oh, we definitely get into fights sometimes,” Alyssa said. “Arguing over computer use and stuff like that. But in the end, we definitely respect each other and we do try and push each other.”