This year, senior year was nothing like many imagined nor what they never would of hoped for. For many seniors, the year fell short of what it could have been, what memories could have been made, and what goals could have been achieved. However, this does not demean the great achievements of Dylan Price and Nicole Dooley. Dylan Price, the Onondaga Class of 2021 Salutatorian will graduate with an average of 99.63. In the fall, he will go onto college, majoring in Business Administration or Finance. Dylan has been accepted to University of Virginia, Villanova University, Fordham University and Seton Hall University. He is awaiting decision from several other colleges. What excites him most about college is to have “more opportunities to prepare for a successful career, taking new classes and meeting new people.” At OCS, Dylan has taken numerous College and AP classes and is currently taking AP Psychology and A.P. Government. In the past years, he has completed A.P. U.S. History, A.P. World History earning a 5 on both exams. As a senior, he took a Financial Accounting class at OCC. Since this class was not available at OCS, Dylan spoke with Mr. Ciereck and arranged to take this class and learned a lot. Dylan strongly recommends that “If there is a class you want to take in a subject that OCS does not offer, talk to Mr. Ciereck about taking it at OCC.” History is Dylan’s favorite subject, having enjoyed all the classes. In addition, he also enjoyed A.P. Psychology, College English, and OCC Financial Accounting. He also liked Earth Science. Dylan suggests for students to take Public Speaking, Creative Writing with Mrs. Ferris, and Modern American History as electives since they were valuable classes and taught important life-long skills. Adding that “They will complement your other classes and teach skills you will need in life.” When Dylan is not working hard academically, he is working hard on the mat and running hard, participating in Cross Country, Track & Field, and Wrestling. While Dylan qualified for Classes last track season in the 200 M, 400 M, 800 M, 1600 M, and 3200 M, his favorite races are the 800 M and the 1600 M. By winning Classes in the 800 M, he advanced to State Qualifiers in that event. In Cross Country of his Sophomore year, Dylan qualified for States, running against hundreds of runners. At States, Dylan was a member of the Section III State Champion team. Although Dylan was successful in running, his main sport was Wrestling, achieving a total of 169 varsity career wins, winning 14 tournaments, 4 League Championships and 3 Class Championships. But his achievements did not stop there. He joined the varsity team as a 7th grader and placed 3rd in Sectionals. He continued to place 3rd at Sectionals in both 8th and 9th grade. In 8th grade, Dylan was a State Qualifier at 113lbs, earning a wildcard. In his Sophomore year, Dylan Price became the Section III Division II 132lb champion. At 138lbs, he won Sectionals again his Junior year, earning the title of Two Time Sectional Champion. Also in his Junior year, Dylan broke the Onondaga School record for wins of 164. As a Junior, Dylan placed 4th at the New York State Wrestling Tournament which was his favorite high school memory and proudest high school accomplishment because “it is a culminating moment of hard-work”. In addition to wrestling since he was five years old he explains that it is his favorite sport because, “wrestling is the most rewarding of the sports I do since I have to not only work-hard but sacrifice to achieve my goals. In wrestling, there is also a lot of freedom. You can pick and choose what moves work for you and what you like. Most importantly, you are the only one on the mat. There is no one else to blame or fall back on. You have to be self-reliant. Self-reliance is an important American value” Wrestling all these years has taught him “, dedication, grit and hard-work,” invaluable life lessons that will stick with him for the rest of his life. If Dylan had to describe himself in word it would be determination. Dylan plans to be four sport athlete his senior year having participated in cross country, wrestling, football and planning on track next season. On top of academics and athletics, Dylan Price participates in countless extra-curriculars, performing duties that help OCS and the community become a better place. Dylan has been Student Council President since 10th grade. Along with being Student Council President, Dylan has been Key Club Co-President since 11th grade. In Key Club, he has organized the ornament fundraiser with IIP, as well as helping with the Food Drive and Christmas Card drive for troops. IIP, also known as the International Internship Program, was founded by Dylan Price after attending the summer program at Georgetown University. Since 10th grade Dylan served as IIP Team Leader, he has “worked with the International Internship Program and learned a lot of valuable international business skills.” Dylan has worked with a range of business partners from a fish farmer, a motorcycle repair shop owner to a welder. Another contribution Dylan made to OCS was founding the Model UN team, saying that “As an 8th grader, Ms. Delgado was looking for a way to help students learn more about history. I attended a Model UN camp a few years earlier and thought it would be a good idea to start at OCS. We would meet weekly to develop solutions to global issues and everyone would represent a country and we would vote on the proposal.” Furthermore, Dylan was Marketing Director SECNY Tiger Branch, Class President in grades 8-10, and is currently a member of National Honor Society, Spanish Club, a Peer Mentor/Peer Tutor and was Class President for three years. Besides sports, Dylan’s favorite extracurricular was “working at SECNY Tiger Branch and serving as Student Council President.” Dylan encourages “all students to either become a member at the Tiger Branch or work there.” As a sophomore and Treasurer of Junior Honor Society, Dylan organized Operation Shoebox to get donations for troops serving overseas. Dylan has been a major contributor to Onondaga’s newspaper, while serving as Editor-in-Chief starting an online website for the paper, starting the usage of a consistent format, increasing the number of editions with the addition of more content and increasing viewership. Even with Dylan’s busy schedule, he makes time to work at Sollecito Landscaping Nursery. This year will be his third year working there. At Sollecito, he “learned a lot of valuable information about horticulture, improved sales skills, and develop leadership skills.” Dylan has a “variety of duties that include sales, training new employees, tracking inventory, watering the plants, pruning, weed control and any other needed tasks.” This ties to one thing many people do not know about Dylan. He is very knowledgeable about plants and can answer any landscaping questions. To fulfill his political interests and fight for his values, Dylan has worked on several campaigns. For three election years, including 2016, 2018, and 2020, he assisted the John Katko for Congress, making phone calls and going door knocking. Other campaigns were Bob Antonacci for State Senate in 2018 and Matt Beadnell for County Comptroller in 2019. In high school Dylan says sophomore year was his favorite year since it was a full school year and he excelled at the higher level in all three sports he participated in. One thing Dylan will miss about high school is his daily politics update with Mr. James. When asked what Dylan does in his spare time, he said “I don’t really ever have spare time” but if he does he likes to hike and read. One of the greatest influences in Dylan’s life has been his mom since “she was a stay-at-home mom I spent a lot of time with her and she helped get me where I am.” Most importantly, Dylan wants to thank his family: mom. dad and sister ,Natalie for all the support that have given him. Fast forward ten years from now, Dylan wants to have started and be running his own company. His advice for underclassmen is this: “Don’t be lazy. There is nothing worse than mediocrity. Set goals. Work-hard and keep fighting to achieve them. “ After being accepted to Binghamton University, Nicole Dooley plans to attend there. At Binghamton, she will major in biomedical engineering, saying that “I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, but after volunteering at Crouse Hospital I realized I did not want to do patient care but rather go down the research route. As time and technology move forward the field will always be changing, so always room for new innovations.” The STEM field interests Nicole because of the hands-on research and the ability to work towards inventing new technology that will help others. Her dream is “to be able to help improve an already existing technology and to make it more accessible to people who are less fortunate.” Nicole loved attended a small high school, knowing everyone, and being apart of a tight-knit community. However, she feels it will be a “nice change to meet other students with different backgrounds.” Since college is a new experience, Nicole is most scared about the classes she will have to take, saying that she has done well in high school due to teachers walking us through processes and answering all questions. She is aware that college will have larger classes, removing one on one time with a professor, fearing this will “take a toll on my performance.” Nicole Dooley will graduate 5th in her class having a GPA of 98.95. She took College and AP classes throughout high school. Her favorite class was the Global Environment and Human Interactions through ESF taught by Mr. Mauro. Although Nicole was “a bit skeptical” when she discovered only one other person was in the class, she enjoyed it. The small size allowed them to talk about environmental topics “more comfortably” and “freely.” This class inspired her to be a lot more environmentally conscious. Nicole especially loved the support from her teachers in high school. “Throughout high school, I could not even count the amount of times I would stop into Mr. Melfi or Mr. Miller’s room when I was confused about the content. They never turned down my questions and I never left feeling confused.” When it came to applying to college, she was able to talk to Mr. Sharpsteen and Mrs. Kurucz, making her more comfortable with college. Her favorite high school memory was the last rehearsal for The Little Mermaid. Although the show was never shown, “I was able to see the final product and see how hard my new close friends had worked to make that happen.” Nicole believes she will miss high school more than she thinks. She will miss the team bondings and relationships she developed through sports. The proudest moment of her high school career was when she was applying to colleges. “Besides one, I know I had a very strong chance of going anywhere I wanted.” She worked tirelessly every day for three years to reach this moment and “participated in countless activities and went above and beyond the requirements.” Nicole’s advice to underclassmen is this: “Try to make the best of it. It's six years of your life. If you have the tiniest interest in a club but are unsure just join. Clubs and sports are a great way to make friends. Having a common goal in a group has a good way of bringing people together.” Beyond academics, Nicole was a three-sport athlete, running track and cross country along with playing basketball. In track and field, Nicole was a distance runner. As for her position in basketball, she plays post. Out of these three sports, her favorite is cross country since “everyone is so supportive, even other teams.” Nicole also loves her basketball team because she feels like “we are a small family.” As a student at Onondaga, Nicole was extremely involved in extracurricular activities, being a member of the Key Club, Class Officers, Student Council, Newspaper Club, International Internship Program, National Honor Society, Drama Club, Environmental Club. Not only is Nicole Vice President of the Class of 2021 and Student Council, she is also President of Key Club. Nicole’s role in Key Club included volunteer opportunities such as the salvation army Gift Drive and introducing the Angel Stockings drive. In Newspaper Club, Nicole is most known for her recipes. Although she doubted them at first, thinking they were a “bit stupid”, but after skipping an edition, she received multiple messages on social media asking where her recipes were. Nicole continued to say “I love sharing the recipes I make with my family so others can have those experiences as well.” Her favorite recipe is cinnamon rolls. Even though they are very time-consuming, baking relaxes Nicole, giving her time to “really focus on what I am doing.” Not to mention the “end result is delicious.” Baking allows her to introduce her family and friends to plant-based food, proving their favorite desserts can taste the same without animal products. Nicole eats plant-based since it is better for the environment. Nicole stresses that “I don't pressure anyone else to follow that as I know it is difficult which is why when I do introduce it to them, it is with sweets.” When Nicole is not running down the court or studying, she works at Green Hills. Being employed has taught Nicole “how to take some heat and be less sensitive.” One thing many people, with the exception of her closest friends, is that she is quite goofy. Nicole said that in class “I can be a bit uptight sometimes or quiet, but I am quite easy to talk to.” One of Nicole’s hobbies is walking her dog daily because “it is very relaxing to me and allows me to clear my head.” Nicole also loves hiking with family and friends whenever time permits. In her spare time, she enjoys driving with her friends and spending quality time with her mom since that time with her is always meaningful. Her mom has influenced her the most, even if it is a “cliche,” but she “really inspired me.” This is because her mom “has been taking care of mentally ill individuals for over thirty years and seeing how her work impacts those individuals lives made me want to do something that helped people.” Her mom is why she is pursuing a medical career, one that will “positively impact someone's life someday.” In ten years, Nicole hopes to see herself at a “starter job where I would be pursuing biomedical engineering,” staying true to her dreams and preserving through any hardships. She plans to “be in a starter home and maybe have a pet, who knows?” Congratulations Dylan and Nicole on all your accomplishments! Good luck pursuing all your future endeavors!
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