THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406070162
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HEIDI GLICK, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: Medium
Brother Jason Troiano was valedictorian of Cape Henry in '91 and her parents, Dr. Raymond Troiano and Diana Troiano, were valedictorians of their respective schools.
{REST} Kelly said following in the footsteps of her family, especially her brother who is now an Echols scholar at the University of Virginia, was difficult. And the pressure to be valedictorian, although her parents and brother downplayed their success, was intense.
``I felt like I owed them something,'' she said. ``I was so nervous. I talked about it everyday. I thought another girl beat me out definitely.''
And when she found out she won? ``I was really excited. I almost cried. I really wanted it.''
However, the road to victory was not an easy one.
First of all her course load this year included advanced placement calculus, chemistry and biology as well as marine biology and English. She played on the basketball team. Then in November - a week before exams - she had heart surgery to remove extra muscle tissue, but missed only two days of school. ``She didn't want to miss anything,'' Arlene Ingram, director of guidance and college counselor, said. ``She knew a lot was resting on her academic achievement. She has that drive that says I need to be there. It's pretty unbelievable.''
Added Ingram, ``She had big shoes to fill.''
At Cape Henry, Jason was a sports and academic star. ``He won everything,'' Ingram said. ``We all thought he was a reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson. Kelly had to follow in these big shoes, and she certainly has measured up in every way on her own.''
Kelly said, ``It was hard. The teachers would say, `I had your brother . . . ' I felt I had to live up to what he was.''
Her work paid off. ``There's a lot of students who won't do homework, who won't study,'' said Kelly, who did two to three hours of studying every night. ``I knew I had to work hard. It's important to be successful.''
She credited her parents for always being around to help her with homework. ``I knew it was important from how they always helped me,'' she said. ``They pushed me to do my work until I did it on my own.''
She said she is very disciplined.
Her mom agreed.
``She's not a procrastinator at all,'' Diana Troiano said. ``Her brother is much more of a procrastinator. She's very prepared, early on papers, goes to the library, starts things early. She's very organized.''
According to her mother, Kelly always admired her brother, which may have led to her desire to be valedictorian. ``She looked up to him very much when she was younger.'' She also said the two have always been close. Jason even made an early morning trip home from college to be at Cape Henry's awards ceremony because he knew Kelly wanted him to be there, Diana Troiano said.
According to her mother, Kelly didn't have to put so much pressure on herself to be valedictorian. ``We didn't care,'' Diana Trioano said. ``I didn't want her to be measuring herself by her brother. We always tried to downplay it, so did Jason. You should just do what you do, measure yourself against yourself. That would be ideal.''
Kelly is leaving in August for U.Va. were she plans to study accounting. She had wanted to major in biology, until she found out the difficulties her brother, who is studying to be a doctor, is facing.
``He's just really smart to me,'' Kelly said.'' If he's having a lot of problems, doing a lot of work, I don't think I could make it. I'm afraid I wouldn't be accepted into medical school.''
``Math is a good subject for me,'' she added.
by CNB