As soon as Everett High Valedictorian Vicki Do learned what it was to be a valediction, she wanted that honor.
The Everett High School top student this year – who graduated with her class on Weds., June 12, at Everett Memorial Stadium – said she learned what ‘valedictorian’ meant in 8th grade and strived for the honor ever since.
“Actually, when I was in 8th grade and I heard about the valedictorian and found out what it was about – I wanted that,” she said in an interview with the Independent. “I worked hard for it. I was first in middle school. That helped prepare me to work hard to get number one now. It was more a feeling of accomplishment when I learned I was a valedictorian.”
Do, 18, had parents that immigrated from Vietnam, but she was born in Everett and has attended Everett Public Schools her whole career. She went to the Lafayette K-8 School, and then on to Everett High.
Now, she said, she’ll be going to Tufts University this fall.
“Tufts was my top choice,” she said. “First, the community there is incredibly unique. I went for student day and the atmosphere for the campus is so different. If you go to Tufts, students there will say it’s like a whole different life.”
Do has spent the last few years at Everett High in the Allied Health Professions Academy. She has done three rotations at CHA Everett and has gotten to see the real world of medicine – which has cemented her choice to become a doctor.
However, she doesn’t want to just heal people, but she wants to do it with an understanding about them as a person.
“I’m hoping to major in biology and minor in philosophy,” she said. “Biology because I want to become a doctor, but I pursue philosophy because there’s a humanistic role doctors need to have when they’re working with patients. It’s not about healing only, but being empathetic and understanding people as well.”
That goes right along with her love of the diversity and people of Everett and Everett High School.
Do said that the greatest strength of Everett is its diverse people.
“That is one of the most important aspects I see,” she said. “A lot of people talk about it, but we interact with so many cultures and backgrounds. That an advantage in Everett we have other students in other school do not have. When you go to college, you’re so fresh and all the lessons from high school help you in the future – being able to make new friends and relate to different people.”
But all in all, Do said Everett Schools have shaped her into exactly who she wants to be.
“I am very emotional about leaving Everett because I’ve gone to school here the entirety of my life,” she said. “There are so many great teachers I want to go back to and say thank you for everything they’ve done for me. They made me the person I am. If I had grown up in another city or town, I wouldn’t be the same person. I am very happy with who I am at this moment – right now.”
Do is the daughter of Quoc and Hue Do. She has a sister, Julie Do, her grandmother, Mai Nguyen, and her aunt, Huong Do.
She was one of nearly 500 students that graduated from EHS on June 12.