MUKILTEO — They first met in third grade when they would watch “Magic School Bus” cartoons on PBS after school.
They’ve been lab partners in chemistry class, teammates on a state-champion Knowledge Bowl team, officers in Honor Society and National Merit Scholarship winners.
Now, they are co-valedictorians at Kamiak High School, tied for top of the class based on a ranking system that weighs the rigor of academic courses with grade point average. Each has taken 10 or more college-level advanced placement classes while in high school.
Come fall, Annissa Alusi and Jennifer Xia again will roam the same campus. Both are bound for Harvard ivy.
Alusi and Xia are scholars, not rivals. They have long fed off each others’ strengths.
“I can’t really gain motivation from other people,” Alusi said. “We have always worked together.”
Xia agreed. “It definitely helps to have someone else who is so motivated.”
There are parallels in their lives. Both are the daughters of engineers who immigrated to America. Each left a Mukilteo School District program for academically gifted students to attend their neighborhood middle school. And both grew up in homes where music was encouraged, the humanities were valued and diligence in their studies was expected.
Mainly, both liked to learn, often going well beyond what was expected on a class assignment.
Alusi spent two summers working at a biotech company on an internship in Seattle; Xia was invited to participate in a national math competition limited to some of the country’s most promising high school math students. She spent nine hours over two days in a room completing six mind-bogglingly complicated math problems.
Their drive was intrinsic.
“I didn’t really look at the ranks so much, but I definitely wanted to get an A in every class,” said Alusi, whose schedule includes advanced placement second-year calculus, English, government and biology classes along with jazz ensemble and chamber winds, which allowed her to play her beloved alto saxophone.
Xia, a math whiz interested in economics and finance, ended up choosing Harvard over MIT. Alusi, who is interested in environmental economics and studying energy resources and climate change, picked Harvard over Stanford.
“I don’t think I would have been that hard on myself if I didn’t get in,” Xia said. “It’s something I always wanted and I knew I did my best.”
Both are thankful for the education they have received along the way.
“It gave us a great foundation,” Alusi said. “Obviously, it is what you make of it.”
— Eric Stevick
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