She plans to attend Cal Poly and major in Math
While the graduating seniors at Paso Robles High School have to wait a little longer before they eventually toss their tassels to the other side and step into their futures, one student, Danielle Halebsky, already knows where she stands and that is at the top.
Paso Robles has chosen a college-style graduation that will take place on July 8 through July 11 with four ceremonies per day to keep everyone as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Families will be organized on the field into different socially distant groups with the stage. Every group will get a chance to hear Halebsky’s address via a prerecorded message except for the lucky few in her group who will listen to her speech in person.
The Bearcats’ valedictorian finished high school with a cumulative 4.84-grade point average and achieved a goal she set for herself when first set foot on campus.
“Being valedictorian has always been a goal,” Halebsky told The Paso Robles Press. “I’ve wanted to accomplish this since the beginning of high school. I got straight A’s in middle school and wanted to continue that into high school.”
For a student to earn a GPA of over 4.0, they must not only take advanced placement classes but also excel in them. A.P. classes are created to test above-average students through critical thinking, prepare them for college, and, at times, push them out of their comfort zones, which is why Halebsky chose A.P. Spanish as her most challenging course.
“A.P. Spanish was probably the hardest class I had over the four years,” Halebsky said. “There were a lot of students who spoke Spanish at home, whereas I only spoke it in class. This made it challenging for me to understand everything and perform, as well as them.”
Paso’s top student excelled in the upper-tier Spanish offering and is looking forward to taking major-specific courses next year. She plans on staying local and attending Cal Poly and majoring in Mathematics.
“I’ve always had a passion for math, and I was good at it,” she explained. “I played strategy games and solved logic puzzles and riddles, even at an early age. I like math because it’s logical.”
Not only did Halebsky excel in the classroom, but she also worked hard after school and committed herself to several extracurricular activities at PRHS. During her four years, she was in six different clubs — Robotics Club, Skills USA, CSF, Drama Club, International Club, and the Creative Writing Club. She also helped out in the math center.
