Thick, stylized eyeliner.

Two hand-made, studded leather bracelets.

Thrifted vintage clothes or ironic t-shirts.

One of Oviedo’s “alternative” seniors, Jade Wang, can be remembered not only for her effortless punk rock appearance, but also her rank of 9 out of 584 students.

“I feel like she’s the textbook archetype of don’t judge a book by its cover,” senior Cooper Garvey said. “If you look up everyone else who’s on that roster of ten people, she is the outlier in terms of personality.”

Wang’s creative, individualistic character has shaped her many successes and academic excellence. Though the exact reasons were not shared with her, Wang believes her acceptance into New York University (NYU), one of the best universities in the nation, could be credited to her “aura.”

In order to “make a lot of money,” Wang will go on to study biology for a future career in medical pathology. With the congratulatory email from her counselor, Wang was relieved to hear she was in the Top Ten for the graduating class of 2026.

“I don’t look like I’m good at school…[but] I’ve been grinding Dual Enrollment for the last three years, so I had to get something out of it,” Wang said.

After taking his English 2 Honors class sophomore year, Wang asked Stephen Lander to represent her during the Honor Grad ceremony. She asked again junior year and a day before requests were finalized this year.

Her creative direction led her to membership in twelve clubs, with officer positions in four, to strengthen her college application. Outside of campus, she spent time as a Girl Scout and worked as a camp counselor until her current self-employment as a nail technician.

With intrinsic motivation and creative curiosity, Wang explored several academic organizations with an open mind and finding humor in everything.

“[Wang is] probably one of the most unique [and] … entertaining, but also just caring people that you could ever meet,” Garvey said, “because even when you’re struggling with something, she will drop the whole demeanor of comedy that she has, to truly be one-on-one with you, in a way that will make anyone feel appreciated, seen, heard, and that’s rare in a person.”

Garvey met Wang through a mutual friend and shared AP Biology class, growing from strangers to best friends by the end of their junior year. Wang would offer Garvey encouragement, friendly competition and help connecting with others.

“I love my friends, they kept me alive,” Wang said.

What Wang will accomplish after graduating is about as certain as next week’s hair color.

“[It will be] something else that I could not predict,” Lander said.

Though, the wild extrovert’s liveliness paired with a gifted mind made her Top Ten achievement a surprise to no one, setting the stage for future distinction.

“[I hope she earns] the title of doctor by her mid-20s, so I can refer to her as Dr. Jade,” Garvey said. “Combined with her wit, humor, natural intelligence, she can accomplish incredibly helpful things for … the world if she just chooses to [take] that next step farther and wants to engage in the larger spheres of science.”