CHS valedictorian Sarah inspired by career goals, mom

CASHMERE – Cashmere High School Valedictorian and class president Sarah Noyes was inspired by her career goals and the support of her mom to strive for academic excellence during her high school career.

"I'd say a big part has to do with my mom," she said. "She is Hungarian, and she really emphasized that you know, if you have really good grades and keep it within like an A range, it will help you get to better colleges of your choice. But also because I wanted to get into veterinary medicine, and that's really competitive. So if I keep up a higher GPA, then I can get more opportunities that way."

Noyes worked hard to stay on top of her studies so that she can follow her dream of being a veterinarian.

"My studies were number one, and if I missed a day because I was sick or because I had something else going on, like a sports event, I would work on my schoolwork, like on the bus," she said. 

"Or even when I'm sick, I sometimes work on it which my mom was like, 'you need to rest' and I'm like, 'but I have to do it' so I'd do the vital stuff, you know, the things that needed to be turned in," she said. "Because if I fell behind, I kind of like panic about it, but also because I like to be in control of what I do and like if I can, if I don't fall behind, it will be better. So when I go back, I'm not sure what the teachers are saying, right?"

Noyes was homeschooled until high school. She entered the school system in 9th grade and during the height of the pandemic. So, that was a challenging adjustment for her.

"Because I was homeschooled, I wasn't really sure how to adjust to the environment with a lot of different people and one teacher and like 28 Kids, right? And how that works," she said. "So the social part of it was really difficult for me, and I'm still learning, but it was really hard for me to adjust to that."

Growing up with an American dad and a Hungarian mom gave her a different way of seeing things than her peers and that was something she had to learn about as well, she said.

The most inspirational person for Noyes is her mom. Her mom always emphaszied how important school and hard work is. 

She also gave Noyes good advice. Her mom told her that everyone may be given the same opportunity, but whether people use them or not is very important, she said.

"So it's like even though people say things, what really determines where you can go in life is if you put effort into work and you show you not just learn from that, but you actually show others that you can be trustworthy and reliable," she said.

Noyes found it hard to pick her favorite subject by science was definitely a top pick. Science is kind of like a puzzle in a way because it does involved some math but not super hard math like calculus, she said. 

"So I can do easier math in there," she said. "Like with chemistry, I learned how different bonds were created and how they're like puzzle pieces, like one may have three different types of atoms, and one may have one and you need to do the math to make sure it's equal."

While high school held its challenges, Noyes is thankful for her time in Cashmere.

"I think I'm very lucky to have gone to Cashmere, looking at the schools in the area because of how great the teachers are and, of course, the subjects offered," she said. "So I think one way I really prepared myself was I took a lot of college in the high school classes, even though a couple might not transfer to my future college. I still learned how to adapt from a high school type of classroom to more of a college with more responsibility and a bit more flexibility. So that was actually really helpful."

In the fall, Noyes will attend Washington State University to study microbiology. After that, she plans to study veterinary medicine.

She wants to be a small animal veterinarian and is interested in specializing in surgery, especially in emergency medicine, because that was the area she found most interesting during her job shadow.

Noyes hopes to leave behind the legacy at CHS that inspires others to push themselves academically.

Her advice to incoming freshmen who aspire to academic excellence is to stay on top of their schoolwork and not to be afraid to ask the teacher for help.

"Ask for help if you need help and work with the teachers," she said. "And a lot of people don't do that I've noticed in school they'd rather, you know, figure it out on their own, which isn't always the greatest, or if they're too scared to go up or they feel like it's annoying the teacher but I mean, you learn a lot better that way."

Quinn Propst: 509-731-3590 or quinn@ward.media.