June 9, 2006

Westmont, Del Mar prepare for graduations

By Jeff Frazee
Times Staff

Westmont and Del Mar High School seniors will graduate on June 15.

Westmont’s valedictorians

Westmont’s graduation will be held on the school’s athletic fields at 4:30 p.m. with 340 seniors walking the stage to receive their diplomas. The school named 14 valedictorians, all of whom were females. The valedictorians are Caitlin Ayer, Dominique Fong, Veesta Falahati, Sahar Maali, Emily Ufheil-Somers, Ngoc-Diem Hoang, Sarah Orlando, Hana Kim, Jessica Wacker, Lindsay Wilkinson, Jenny Chan, Jen Nguyen, Tori Bommarito and Laudan Siahpolo.

These valedictorians will be headed to schools ranging from Webster University and Whitman College to Stanford and UC Berkeley. Ayer will attend Webster University for theatre design. Fong will be attending USC to study print journalism. Falahati is going to UC Berkeley to study biochemistry. Maali will be attending UC Berkeley and double majoring in political science and philosophy. Ufheil-Somers will be attending Whitman College and to study psychology and art. Hoang will major in nursing and biological chemistry at UCAL.

Orlando will be attending Santa Clara University and will possibly study history. Kim will be at UC Irvine and is planning to transfer to business school to study marketing and international relations. Wacker will go to Stanford University to study biochemical engineering and she will be on the varsity fencing team. Wilkinson will be studying business at Brigham Young. Chan will be going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she will major in business.

Nguyen will be majoring in biological chemistry and cell biology at UC San Diego as part of a pre-med program. Bommarito is going to Middlebury College to study math and music. And, Siahpolo is going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study architecture.

Del Mar’s graduation will take place at 5 p.m. in the school’s quad. Among its 220 graduating seniors are two valedictorians.

Both Dustin Damonte and Quynh Anh Nguyen maintained 4.0’s as the school year drew to an end. Damonte plans to follow in his parent’s footsteps, Dirk and Carol, attending the University of Puget Sound on a singing scholarship where he will most likely study English.

Quynh Anh Nguyen was awarded numerous scholarships including the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship to pay her expenses while studying biological science at Stanford University. She plans to earn a BS in molecular cell biology and a master’s in biological engineering. Her parents, who brought her to American from Vietnam when she was little, were always encouraging her and pointing out successful scientists.

Nguyen's mom who works for Que Huong Radio, a local Vietnamese station, will be earning her degree in education at the same time Quynh Anh is studying at Stanford.