She was given locker No.1 at the beginning of the year.

But Sabina Ajjan had to earn the title of being No.1 in Stratford’s Class of 2021. 

Sabina was named valedictorian at an Upper School assembly in The Grady on Monday morning. Nora Jorgensen and Jocelyn Tang were named co-salutatorians.

Sabina said she is confident her hard work paid off, and even if she was not the valedictorian, she believes she is better prepared for college “to study hard when it’s going to get harder.” 

She recently made the decision to attend Georgia Tech next year as a chemical engineer major. Her older sister, Tarab, will graduate from Georgia Tech next month.

All three seniors will speak at Stratford’s graduation ceremony on Saturday May 29th. Sabina and Jocelyn have already started thinking about their graduation speeches. 

Nora has not made her college decision yet because the dates for several applications and the arrival of acceptance letters were moved because of an increased number of applicants because of COVID-19. 

Many admission letters are coming out later this week or next week. Nora is going to have a decision by next week. Her major is undecided.

Jocelyn has not decided on a college either, but she is going to major in cellular and molecular biology and is deciding between Georgia Tech and Augusta University for their seven year BS/MD program that guarantees acceptance into graduate school. After the extra hours and academic effort, Jocelyn believes that if she would have not been named the salutatorian, it would have not been the end of the world. 

She believes being a valedictorian or salutatorian is a good goal to have in mind, yet “you will grow a lot along the way no matter if you get it or not.”