Dating back to middle school, the current senior class always predicted that Frans Moncayo would be up on stage at graduation as the valedictorian of the class. Frans has always been a driven and determined student. As his senior year is coming to an end soon, he is finishing up his high school career with an astonishing GPA. His schedule this year alone proves how motivated he is to challenge himself by taking the highest level courses possible. He is taking four Advanced Placement classes (Literature, Calculus, European History and Biology) and two honors classes (Spanish 4 Honors and Physics 2 Honors).
Frans’s future is looking very bright. He applied to seven colleges (Rutgers University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York University, Cornell University, Columbia University, Brown University, and Harvard University) with an SAT score of 2020. Frans prepared quite a lot for the SATS by taking two classes a week taught by a professor from Cornell University at Farleigh Dickinson University. After taking the SATS three times, he is very pleased with his scores and from the looks of it, so are the colleges that he has applied to. He has recently been accepted to Rutgers University and earned the Scarlet Scholarship worth $3,500 per year. He also received a generous scholarship from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute worth $15,000 per year. Frans’s top choices are Brown University and Columbia University.
When asked how much time he spends on homework, Frans responded, “Most nights I spend many hours doing homework. If I had to average the amount of hours a night I spend doing homework, it would be about five hours per night.” Frans is not all about hitting the books though. He is also involved in many of the extra-curricular activities that North Arlington High School has to offer. Some of these activities include three honor societies: the National Honor Society, which he is currently the president of, the Spanish Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Other activities include the Drama Club, Chorus and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), which he is Vice President of.
Frans is somewhat undecided about his major, but is leaning towards earning a degree towards a career as a doctor that specializes in infectious diseases. He is sure that he is interested in biology; however, he says that it has been difficult making a final decision about his major considering he is “fairly indecisive.” When it comes to school, his favorite subject is mathematics. “I
have always been a math person, especially when it comes to mental math (which is how I got my elementary school nickname ‘the human calculator’)” says Frans. He also adds that some of his favorite classes that he has taken throughout high school have been P.E.G. Honors, Algebra 2/10 Honors, Chemistry Honors and AP European History.
When asked how he manages his time with friends and family, he stated, “I still spend a lot of time with my friends and family. I am able to finish my homework and then hang out with my friends (i.e. going out to dinner). As for my family, I am fortunate because I have some family in North Arlington while many of my other relatives live a short drive away. Therefore, I am able to see them and spend time with them frequently.” Frans also added that he is ‘fantastic’ when it comes to dance video games. He loves playing and setting high scores for the Just Dance games. He also is obsessed with the PlayStation 3 game, Skyrim. “Many people think that I spend my days studying for tests and reading. That is completely false. I love to play my new PS3 in my free time. My favorite game to play is Skyrim because it takes place in a fantasy world that enthralls those who play this game. It is like a small escape from reality. In this game, the player takes the initiative: discovering locations, completing the quests, etc…” stated Frans.
Frans is ambivalent about graduating this year, while he is excited to graduate and move onto the next phase of his life to meet new people in new locations, he is sad to leave NAHS. “I will miss seeing my friends every day. There are a lot of memories at NAHS that I will never forget.” When asked how it feels to be class Valedictorian, he said, “Being #1 in our class is such an honor. Being Valedictorian is a major accomplishment for me as well as my family. I am the first Moncayo to be Valedictorian. I am proud of myself because this proves to me that all of my hard work has paid off.”