Successful sisters

After working tirelessly for their high school careers to become the best of the best, seniors Risha and Lisa Parmar were the only two Class of 2021 graduates to finish with a 5.0 GPA. 

It was Risha who’ll have bragging rights as they prepare to attend Rice University, earning the title of valedictorian. It was the second straight year Rider’s top academic honor came down to a tiebreaker.  

“It’s nice knowing that there is a tangible achievement at the end, but at the same time it doesn’t really matter, it matters what you personally feel about where you are in life,” Risha said.

These girls aren’t just the best of friends, they are identical twin sisters who took pretty much the same classes during their high school years. 

Even though they were always neck and neck for first place, the competition did not interfere with the sisters’ relationship. 

“We’re twins, so we are always compared throughout our lives, but it’s never been tense or anything,” Risha said. “We just try to be who we can be, and I mean of course there’s some competition, but it’s just friendly.” 

Not only are they going to Rice in the fall, but they are also planning to study sciences. Risha wants to get a degree in biology, while Lisa is going to do chemistry with both trying to go down the pre-med route.

Risha said she didn’t believe she sacrificed that much to become valedictorian. 

“I did spend a lot of time studying, but a lot of the classes I took I genuinely enjoyed taking, so it wasn’t like it was terrible to study it. I mean there were some classes that it was more of a chore to study but besides that, I don’t think I faced many hardships,” Risha said. 

Risha and Lisa plan on continuing their strong work ethic in college. However, Lisa also wants to branch out a little more than she did at Rider. 

“I want to be more social than I was in high school because college is the time for socializing,” Lisa said. 

Both sisters are excited and nervous about giving a speech, although it will be pre-recorded at the CEC just like last year’s speeches were. 

Joining the Parmar sisters in the top five are Manasvi Reddy, Jason Tran, and Lauren Waters in fifth. Matthew Bitz and Emily Spicer tied for sixth place, while Jenny Claus, Amy Ward, and Jackson Redding rounded out the Class of 2021’s Top 10 list.