PCHS valedictorian reaches for the stars
July 3, 2024 at 11:10 p.m.
Orhan Eski has a general idea of what he wants his professional life to look like.
“At the start of my career, I really want to get into SpaceX,” he said. “But after a while, I want to settle down and get a job at NASA.”
It’s a path that he’s been striving towards since he was a young boy.
“Ever since I was little, I wanted to do engineering,” he recalled. “Particularly the kind that deals with outer space and rocket ships.”
While most may think that’s a lofty goal, the 17-year-old has been doing everything he can to make it happen—and his efforts led him to becoming the Class of 2024 valedictorian at Port Chester High School.
Though proud of earning the title, it’s not one that he had been aiming for.
“I just tried to do my best, I never really wanted to compare myself to anyone or stand out,” Eski said. He explained the mindset made schoolwork less stressful. “It was a much more manageable goal. I wanted to be the best student I could be.”
But that doesn’t mean he took it easy on himself—strict standards are needed to get to where he wants to go.
With aspirations to reach for the stars by way of engineering, he always knew he’d have to be an exemplary student. To that end, Eski made himself as busy as he could.
He took a full schedule of IB (International Baccalaureate) classes, joined the Chess and Key clubs, played the alto saxophone with the Pride of Port Chester Marching Band and competed on the basketball and cross-country teams.
The valedictorian said his day-to-day agenda was so crammed it kept him out of the school cafeteria. “Actually, the first time I went into the cafeteria during school hours was this year,” he laughed. “I only had a lunch period in my freshman year, but that was our virtual year, so I don’t think it counts.”
Eski said it was difficult to adapt to his heavy workload, as it led to many long nights which could have impacted his grades, but he learned to manage it better with time.
“There was a little bit of a learning curve, but I was able to find strategies to help me focus and take up less time with work,” the Halstead Avenue resident said. He realized the best way to get his schoolwork done efficiently was to step away from it.
“I found that having a little break of physical activity before going back to work was really helpful,” Eski said. “It would help me reset and get things done faster so I stopped staying up late.” He took up going to the gym every day after school to prevent his studies from overwhelming him.
Damaris Ramirez and Orhan Eski, the Class of 2024 salutatorian and valedictorian, stand with their hands on their hearts while listening to the national anthem.By Sarah Wolpoff
On top of keeping up with his academics at Port Chester High School, Eski attended various summer workshops. Most recently, he traveled to Cambridge, Mass. to participate in a robotics program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“For the past three years, I’ve done several academic programs. And when I was looking for one last year, I saw that MIT had one for engineering,” he recalled. “So, I just applied to it not thinking that I’d get in because the acceptance rate was just 3%.”
To his surprise, he was selected and made the trip to the prestigious school. The program, while difficult, gave him hands-on experience with engineering.
“We had full access to a workshop,” he said while excitedly rattling off the machines he got to use. As part of the project, he designed and built a robot.
“It was kind of tough,” he said. “Because you plan out all the dimensions, but then you actually have to cut everything the right way.”
The program was a far cry from Eski’s own experience with at-home experiments, which sometimes failed to end as triumphantly.
“I used to take a lot of things apart and try to make them into other things, and I was trying to make a flashing light through trial and error. But it blew up on me,” he sheepishly said, before quickly adding that it was an incident known to his parents.
The late nights at MIT gave Eski a glimpse of engineering at the collegiate level, which he’s keen to dive into at Duke University in the fall. There, he’ll be majoring in electrical and computer engineering.
Eski said his decision to attend the North Carolina school was based primarily on two factors.
“What really sealed the deal was when I went to visit the campus,” he said. “Duke just really stuck out to me. The campus is really nice, it just has a calming presence to it. And their project teams are open to everyone.”
The specific project he’s eyeing is the rocketry team, which builds vessels that fly up to 10,000 feet in the air.
With the prospect of purposefully causing explosions lying ahead, Eski is looking forward to getting started at his new school. But he’s already looking back on his time in Port Chester fondly.
“I enjoyed so much of my time at Port Chester High,” he said. “There isn’t just one moment that sticks out to me, it’s about everything that happened to lead to moments. Me and my friends were already reminiscing before school ended.”
Reflecting on his high school days with his friends was particularly poignant for Eski, as he’s the sole member of the Class of 2024 heading to Duke University.
“I’m definitely going to try to connect with my friends during breaks, but I’m going to sort of leave Port Chester behind for a little while,” he said.
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