VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN INTRODUCING THE OF THE

Taj “Wolfie” Jethwani-Keyser and Matthew Ferencz have been named this year’s Valedictorian and Salutatorian.

Jethwani-Keyser has a GPA of 99.629 and Ferencz has a GPA of 99.34, both among the highest final GPAs in the school’s history.

For our Valedictorian and Salutatorian, graduating is bittersweet – a mix of relief, excitement, anxiety, sentimentality, and gratitude. “It’s a big honor,” said JethwaniKeyser, who will be attending Harvard University and intends to major in computer science while also studying math, physics, and public policy. “It also symbolizes just a lot of the effort I’ve put into academics in general, so in that sense, graduating from Bronx Science is a clean slate, both in a good and bad way. It’s sort of like all this effort and this community that I’ve been a part of for so long is finished. At the same time, it’s nice to have some closure.”

For Ferencz, the feelings are similar: “I’m honored. But I’m also a bit sad. I’ve spent four years of my life here, and now I have to say goodbye to so many people,” Ferencz said. They will be attending the University of Pennsylvania starting in the fall of 2023, with a plan to major in biochemistry on a pre-medical track while also taking classes in

Mandarin and the arts, particularly in music.

Ferencz and Jethwani-Keyser were actively engaged in Bronx Science’s science research program, and both were finalists in the prestigious Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

Computer science was another significant interest for Jethwani-Keyser, who cofounded the Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking club at Bronx Science. He executed an extensive independent project in online misinformation using natural language processing to look for patterns in the comment sections of misinformation on social media, and building a tool to create new models to detect misinformation online. Ferencz participated in cancer research with doctors at the NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center. Their independent research project incorporated machine learning and predictions in Python (a skill which Ferencz self-taught), taking data on drug sensitivity and gene specificity to predict and rank the most effective drug treatments for specific cancers.

In addition to their strong interests in STEM subjects, the two have been extensively involved with the Bronx Science Speech and Debate team since their ninth grade year. The activity has been time-consuming but quite enriching. “There were times when debate was more work than all my classes put together,” said Jethwani-Keyser, who is the Research Director of the Congressional Debate team.

Ferencz competed in congressional debate for two years before switching to speech, where they explored topics including mixedrace identity and male mental health in the dramatic interpretation and original oratory events. “Both taught me how to be more comfortable with public speaking and also thinking off the fly,” Ferencz said. Ferencz has also served as the Captain of the Boys’ Varsity Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track teams, and performed as the character of Roger in the school’s production of the musical Rent.