Senior Satenik Ayrapetyan is valedictorian for the 2025 graduating class, but she has conflicting feelings about it.
“Being valedictorian is the culmination of four years of work and progress,” Ayrapetyan said. “And so being valedictorian is just the final reward for spending so much time burying my nose in a book, and ultimately, it feels like getting what I wanted after four years of working toward it.”
Ayrapetyan is a recipient of the Warren Christopher and Alexander Hamilton Scholarship, Associated Student Body Secretary, Los Angeles Times High School Insider journalist, freelancer for the Los Angeles Daily News and The Pearl Post print editor-in-chief. After spending three years on the DPMHS Student Media staff, she has an approximate GPA of 4.3, placing her at first in the 2025 class ranking along with senior Kristin Intal. She credits her success to her constant studying, whether that means missing out on school events or bringing study materials on vacation. At UCLA, she hopes to pursue dual majors of history and Russian studies to focus on her favorite subject and maintain the language she grew up with.
“I’m doing this mostly for fun because ultimately, I’m hoping to go to grad school and go to law,” Ayrapetyan said. “I’m hoping to do a lot of good through law making in being able to help others in the way lawyers have helped through my immigration process from Russia.”
She regrets her persistent studying, however, and wishes she focused more on building friendships and relationships. She remembers bringing a prep book to an island on vacation because she wanted to maintain academic perfection. Throughout all of her high school career, Ayrapetyan turned down opportunities to forge new friendships, go to concerts and support her friends to focus on her studying.
“I don’t recommend doing what I did in sacrificing any attempt at building relationships with your peers in favor of studying,” Ayrapetyan said. “I think it’s really important to have a balance of friendships and personal relationships as well as academic work.”
This summer, she plans to travel to San Francisco with her friends, go to Seattle for the Warren Christopher Scholarship and then relax in a lakehouse at the Great Lakes in Michigan.
