Co-founders of environmental group make a difference their own ways
by Andrea Kott
Finding the right niche could be one of the most difficult – and important – parts of high school. While parents agonize over the path to college, kids, no matter how bright or accomplished, agonize over fitting in. Or not.
From top: Greg Valdespino, Matt Valdespino and Emily Arduino
In addition to sharing friendship and a passion for the environment, Emily Arduino and Greg and Matt Valdespino weathered the well-known pain of not belonging, before discovering the deep satisfaction of walking to their own, very special beat.
Arduino has done more than walk to her own beat. In April, she competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships, the culmination of eight years of study that earned her 11th place in the mid-Atlantic competition. While practicing dance, Arduino also played first-section violin in the Sleepy Hollow High School orchestra. Despite her talent in music and dance, however, finding the place where she belonged was a struggle, especially since she did not participate in school sports.
“Irish dancing is not like football or lacrosse, where there are The Football Players or The Lacrosse Players,” Arduino said. “There aren’t The Irish Dancers.” But she prevailed and gradually found her closest bonds with students, like herself, who were passionate about performing arts and the environment.
Arduino fueled her passion about the environment by co-founding – with Greg and Matt Valdespino – SPEAR, Students Promoting Environmental Awareness. Among other things, the organization raises money for senior scholarships through its electronic recycling fair; created the “carpalooza” to encourage students to carpool, bike or walk to school; and participates in ecology fairs where it shares ideas and goals with like-minded groups.
After competing in the national Irish Dance competition in Nashville, Tennessee next month, Arduino heads for College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she hopes to major in chemistry. While she may not have time to dance, she intends to keep up with violin and environmental studies, passions that became her pathways at SHHS.
“There’s always a group of kids that is just like you,” she said.”Don’t change who you are to fit with other people. They’re not really your friends if they’re going to make you change.”
Such hard-won wisdom, rare before mid-life, is something Arduino shares with the Valdespino twins, each of whom has followed his own way to a sense of belonging.
Working with SPEAR, immersing himself in SHHS’ performing arts community, serving as its orchestra’s concert master and living an activist’s life as president of the Gay-Straight Alliance have given Greg a sense of purpose and place.
“I’m not an athletic person, I’m the opposite,” he said.
Greg has been instrumental in continuing the GSA’s yearly Day of Silence, held in recognition of the suppression and censorship that marks the experiences of many in the gay community. Unlike the event’s first year, when approximately 20 students participated, at least 90 people have participated in the past two years, he said. The 6.4-mile AIDS Walk has also been an important part of life for Greg and his brother, he said, noting the $8,000 that the SHHS community raised last year.
Greg likes risks and more than a few have marked his years at SHHS.
“I came out of the closet last year. That changed everything,” he said. “I wasn’t going to go through the academic rigor of last year and pretend to be somebody else.” The academic rigor led to acceptances at some of the country’s top universities, including Brown, Columbia, and Stanford.
“I’m a big fan of leaving my comfort zone,” he said, explaining his choice of Stanford over Columbia or Brown, both of which would have been too comfortable, he said. “Stanford seems like a huge risk, a dynamic change.” That is what appeals to him in school and in life: going places where he doesn’t know what he’ll find.
Matt is less drawn to the unknown, although just as courageous. His journey, however, has been a quieter one, marked by an inner struggle to overcome self-doubt. An admitted “under-achiever,” Matt said it wasn’t until last year that he recognized the fear of failure that discouraged him from working as hard as he could.
“I thought what I was getting was the best out of me,” he said. Then he earned a 5 on an AP exam and surprised himself. “I realized I couldn’t accept the bare minimum.”
Discovering a passion for lacrosse gave him the confidence to pursue his dream of becoming a scholar athlete.
“Athletics is where I learned camaraderie,” he said. “Every single loss I blamed on myself.”
Actively involved in SPEAR and treasurer of the GSA, Matt spent last summer volunteering at the Open Door health clinic. “I want to be an incredible jack-of-all-trades,” he said, confident enough now to be able to defy the social pressure to focus on just one thing. “The most difficult thing in high school is to be yourself and that’s what you have to be.”
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