Winter Park student heading to Princeton honored in virtual ceremony

The ceremony is meant to honor students heading to some of the world’s top schools

WINTER PARK, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools honored their top-performing students on Thursday evening. For the first time, this year’s ceremony was held online.

The ceremony is meant to honor students heading to some of the world’s top schools.

"When I was opening the application portals, I never expected to get accepted into all of those colleges, said student Uma Menon.

Uma Menon is the Valedictorian of her senior class at Winter Park High School. She was honored during the event.

"We thought we were just leaving for spring break, but it was really the last day of school for us seniors,” said Menon.

There were more than 100 students honored, representing someone from each of the district’s 20 high schools.

Menon was accepted to several schools, including Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Columbia. She eventually chose to attend Princeton University.

Menon said on Monday she will record her Valedictorian speech inside Winter Park High School’s empty auditorium. The video will later be played during a virtual graduation ceremony.

"For me, that experience to at least have been able to still give that speech is, I’m really grateful for, but it was definitely something I was looking forward to, being able to share that last message with my classmates in person,” said Menon.


About the Author:

Troy graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. He has reported on Mexican drug cartel violence on the El Paso/ Juarez border, nuclear testing facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory and severe Winter weather in Michigan.

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