By Maria Riegel, Special Writer
South Brunswick High School’s 2011 graduating seniors have Utsarga Sikder as their valedictorian and Muhammad Khan as their salutatorian.
”It is a big honor to be chosen,” Utsarga said. “I am making a speech at graduation. It is very nice to be recognized, and I look forward to speaking to my class at graduation.”
The pair were scheduled to speak at last night’s commencement ceremony in the Sun Bank Center in Trenton, according to officials.
Neither Utsarga nor Muhammad thought that either one of them would be presented with this honor. They both said that they were not striving to become the valedictorian or salutatorian.
”I just really worked hard in classes I liked,” Utsarga said.
Utsarga took AP English his junior year with Mark Ziminski, and he said that English was his favorite class during his junior year. He said he learned a lot of valuable information and new writing skills.
Utsarga said he also enjoyed AP Physics because science has always been a field of interest for him.
In the fall, Utsarga will attend Princeton University for an undeclared major and although he is undecided, he said that he would like to pursue a career in either math or science.
”I like science because I like learning about how the world works around us,” Utsarga said. “I hope I have a job I really enjoy doing that is involved with scientific research.”
Muhammad said that he personally enjoyed his AP Statistics class his junior year with Mr. Dentler.
”I’ve always liked math, but Mr. (Stephen) Dentler always made learning fun,” Muhammad said.
Next year, Muhammad will be pursuing his math interests at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he will be studying engineering.
”I’ve always been interested in math and science, so I figured that engineering would be worth the while because you are not just doing equations, you are helping the world,” Muhammad said.
Utsarga and Muhammad said that they have mixed feelings about graduating from South Brunswick.
Although they are both happy about graduating and beginning new chapters in their lives, they both said that they would definitely miss the relationships they have formed with friends and the teachers they have met.
”Dr. (Amrish) Garg is definitely a great (science) teacher,” Utsarga said. “He has helped me so much with academics, and he is just really easy to talk to.”
Utsarga said that his speech at graduation this year is pivoted around making short-term goals and fulfilling each one.
”I believe that if you look at things in the short term, they are the easiest to accomplish,” Utsarga said.
However, Muhammad’s said that his speech’s theme is ‘Don’t forget the past.’ Muhammad said that in order to be truly successful, one must remember where they came from, and how far they have come in their lives.
Both Utsarga and Muhammad said that they have no regrets looking back at their high school careers and that they are fully satisfied with the closing out their high school experiences.
”I’m happy with how everything turned out,” Utsarga said. “Just because something doesn’t go to plan, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen for a good reason.”
Both students families are extremely proud of the honor the young men have received.
Muhammad said that his mom is his primary influence because he always pushes himself hard to be as intelligent as she is.
Utsarga said that his parents do not have a set direction for him, but allow him to explore and pursue different avenues he enjoys and that he believes the independence his parents allowed him to have truly has made him successful in his academic journey.
