Meet the Valedictorian: Nishi Patel of Warren Central High School

Last month was nothing short of special as one student was chosen as Valedictorian of Warren Central High School. Nishi Patel had the honor of representing the class of 2024 after earning the highest academics.

Before coming to America, Patel spent her younger years in India where she attended an English School. She then came to the United States after completing the sixth grade as he family moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

Patel attended North Forrest High School in the seventh grade where she first began making good grades. By the time she entered the ninth grade, Patel began making plans to become Valedictorian.

“When I saw the Valedictorian on the stage in my ninth grade year I said to myself that I wanted to be there,” Patel said.

Midway through her tenth-grade year, Patel’s family moved to Vicksburg where she attended WCHS.

“It was scary at first because my old school was 4A but WC was 6A and huge so I got lost so many times,” Patel added.

Although Warren Central was bigger and went at a much faster paste, Patel still managed to make straight A’s throughout high school. As time progressed, Nishi made a bet with Coach Wong that she would get Valedictorian, a bet that she obviously won after receiving the news on awards night.

“I felt like that was another thing off my checklist,” Patel said jokingly. “I was really happy that I finally did it because a lot of people thought I couldn’t achieve things but I proved myself.”

Nishi graduated with an impressive 4.795 grade point average. She gave credit to her parents, Coach Wong, Mrs. Esparza, Mr. Collins, Mrs. Brannon, and her Guidance Counselor Ashley Summers for all having a big influence on her education.

Patel will be attending Ole Miss and majoring in Biochemistry where she plans on becoming a doctor. She also wants to minor in music performance. Nishi is the daughter of Mona and Piyush Patel.

All of Patel’s hard work paid off as she was granted the opportunity to stand before her class at graduation as the proud Valedictorian.

“People think that it’s really easy but it’s a lot of sacrifice that goes along with it and I had to put a lot of things aside to reach this goal.”