Mesa valedictorians heading for STEM studies

The five valedictorians of Costa Mesa High School have two things in common — they all plan to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering and math and they are all young women.

After finishing in the top 2% at the school, students Melissa Folkerts, Laura Le, Sophie Nguyen, Lauren Smith and Natalie Tetreault each earned the title of valedictorian.

The scholars are Costa Mesa-grown students. Folkerts and Smith began their education at Paularino Elementary. Nguyen and Tetreault began at Sonora Elementary. Le began at College Park Elementary.

As they all grew in Costa Mesa, so did their interest in the sciences.

At the age of 11, Nguyen took her first trip to Vietnam. She said after seeing the country’s unsanitary food and run-down huts, she was determined to work in the medical field.

“Once I establish a stable career, I want to go back there every year to bring medicine,” Nguyen said. “I might do that in Thailand or Cambodia too.”

Nguyen will study human biology at UC San Diego.

Tetreault will join Nguyen at UC San Diego studying bioengineering and possibly research the development of prosthetics and artificial organs later on. She said her passion for the subject began after spending the past two summers working for a boy with pulmonary hypertension.

“I would hold his oxygen tank so he could run around and play with his friends,” Tetreault said. “It’s important to give people a second chance or maybe even a first chance to do what they want in life.”

Smith, who said she’s always been into mechanical engineering, will attend UC Santa Barbara.

“It’s more me,” she said. “It just felt right.”

Meanwhile, Folkerts and Le will both attend UCLA. Folkerts will major in biochemistry and plans to gain expertise in pharmaceuticals. Le will major in molecular developmental and cell biology. She hopes to attend medical school after her undergraduate studies.

While studies have shown that women are still a minority in STEM fields, the girls say they have never doubted they could reach their goals.

“I don’t really like thinking about boys doing this and girls doing that,” Folkerts said. “We can all have the same interest and drive.”

Le adds: “It’s something that I’ve never really thought about but maybe history is changing.”

Nguyen was the first to hear news of this year’s valedictorians.

As copy editor of the school’s yearbook, she was in charge of arranging the valedictorian spread. Little did she know that the page would be saved for her and her four best friends.

“I went to our yearbook supervisor to ask for the valedictorian list and she said she would get back to me,” Nguyen said. “Later on, she sent me a text saying the five of us where in the top 2%.”

All five said they agree that Costa Mesa High School has given them the opportunities and support they needed to succeed. Together, their student involvements have included the school newspaper, Associated Student Body, choir and teams for volleyball, swim and water polo.

But most of all, the support they most appreciated came from each other as friends.

“They’ve all been there for me during high school,” Smith said. “I know I’ll always have the same friends to go back to.”