At the end of her sophomore year, when Matt Silver ’12 was named valedictorian, Eliza Llewellyn ’14 covered it for the school newspaper. At the end of her junior year, when Madeline Seidman ’13 was given the title of valedictorian, Llewellyn wrote the article about her, too.

This year, Llewellyn is the one being written about.

While documenting the successes of her predecessors seemed to foreshadow Llewellyn’s title, she was still a little stunned when she was crowned valedictorian.

“I was definitely surprised and honored to find out – it’s the kind of thing that I would have just automatically believed someone else would get, especially in a grade that has so many smart people,” Llewellyn said.

Yet, it seemed as if Llewellyn was the only one surprised by her achievement.

“When I heard she got it I wasn’t surprised in any way,” Baxter Stein ’14 said. “I think I felt more content that hard work and dedication really do pay off.”

“I was triumphant,” Haley Randich ’14 said. “I was really hoping she’d get it because she really deserves it.”

It is this quiet intensity that has characterized Llewellyn’s success at Staples. She has remained unshakably modest despite her “monster GPA” as she likes to call it, successes in tennis, drawing, poetry, newspaper and yearbook. Although she excels in almost every aspect of her life, it is this humility that seems to most greatly define her to those around her.

“I think what separates Eliza is that she doesn’t see herself as being ‘above’ other students,” Rachel Paul ’14 said. “She is very sweet and humble, and she’s a wonderful person to work with in and outside of class.”

Brittany Braswell ’15 agrees. “She received the highest academic achievement for high school and remained cool the entire time,” Braswell said.

Stein even joked that Llewellyn wouldn’t react well to the news coverage.

“If Eliza reads this, she might be mad at me for all the praise,” Stein said, “Let it be known that she is infuriatingly modest.”