Highland grad has learned what a valedictorian is

COWICHE -- Some people call it multitasking. Highland High School senior Abril Lopez has another way of describing her level of busyness.

"I'm just like all over the place," she says with a laugh.

Don't believe her? Well, for starters she's the Class of 2009 valedictorian. Knowing that, it almost goes without saying that she made Honor Society. She also competed in Knowledge Bowl.

In addition to her 3.98 GPA, she's athletic, too, having lettered in volleyball, soccer, drill and cheer. She's also vice president of her senior class.

Not bad for a first-generation Mexican-American who had to take English-as-a-second-language courses through third grade and didn't even know what a valedictorian was until she was a sophomore.

The way Lopez sees it, being bilingual gives her a leg up on the competition. On top of that, she's been taking French for three years.

"I want to be a triple threat," she jokes.

Highland High counselor Marvin Stewart describes Lopez as a classic overachiever who stood out the moment she walked through the door as a freshman.

He says her "hunger" for languages has been counter-balanced by her desire to conquer the hardest advance-placement classes she could take in chemistry, physics and upper division math.

"She is driven and gung-ho and absolutely after it until the end," he said. "She hasn't even exhibited a single symptom of senioritis."

Lopez credits her parents for much of her early success, saying they always stressed good grades. Her father, Jorge Lopez, runs an apple orchard. Her mother, Victoria, is a packer at CPC International.

With plans to enroll at the University of Washington this fall, she says life at home in Tieton has seemed strained of late.

Her parents, she says, want her to go to college. But being immigrants from Colima who've never been to college themselves, they are nervous about what the future holds.

"Me and my mom have been crying a lot lately," she says, explaining that as the oldest of three kids, she and her mother are close "and everything has really been building up."

But children must leave the nest, everyone knows that, and Lopez says she is excited that she'll be calling Seattle home by the end of summer.

Before she does that, she needs to get a job and earn some spending money.

Her parents, who have been working since they were kids, always said her job was being a student. But college isn't cheap. Especially college in another town.

"I'll do anything," she says. "I'm not really picky at this point. I just need a job."

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 509- 577-7748 or at cbristol@yakimaherald.com.