At first glance, this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian are not so different from those of previous years: Both excel at what they do, and in particular both are known by their peers for their stellar performances in science and math. But for the first time since 2008, both are female.

Senior Celine Liang is the valedictorian for the Class of 2016, while her friend Kristine Zhang is the salutatorian.

Liang has a total weighted GPA of 4.81 and took a total of 15 AP and Honors classes throughout her high school career. She said she enjoyed devoting most of her time to extracurricular activities, which for her, include placing in top international math competitions such as the European Girls Math Olympiad, and being invited to attend both the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program and the U.S. Physics Team Training Camp multiple times.

“I spend more time [practicing for outside contests] than I do trying to perfect my grades,” Liang said. “Because of that, I was pretty surprised to be chosen as valedictorian.”

Liang’s guidance counselor, Eileen Allen, said her humble nature was exactly what she always admired about Liang. In addition, apart from Liang’s strength in academics, her ability to relate to people made her “even more exceptional” in Allen’s mind.

“[Liang] is a brilliant young woman who is essentially competing on an internal level with STEM competitions,” Allen said. “But what stands out the most is that she’s so incredibly humble, unassuming and easy going.”

Zhang, whose earned a weighted GPA of 4.77, also said that she did not expect to receive the title.

“I knew what my GPA was and I heard of past valedictorians’ GPAs and they all seemed super high,” Zhang said.

Like Liang, Zhang took a total of 15 AP and honors classes, but never considered her GPA to be a “defining factor” of her high school career.

Through FBLA and scientific research — she was named a semifinalist in both the Siemens and Intel competitions this year — Zhang was able to “explore new subjects and meet new people” that gave direction to her passions.

“She’s obviously a very diligent worker,” physics teacher Kirk Davis said. “She was always on top of things, and really understands the material as well.”

For both girls, their natural curiosity and eagerness to learn likely helped their academic performance.

“I take classes because I find them interesting,” Liang said. “So I suppose that’s what helped me do well in them.”