Twin sisters from Fresh Meadows will take top honors at their upcoming graduation from an all-girls school in Jamaica Estates.
Maya and Hannah Reyes have achieved valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, at The Mary Louis Academy. The private high school’s graduation ceremony will take place on June 3.
The Queens natives attended Our Lady of Snows and Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy before attending the college preparatory school, where they took all honors and advanced placement classes.
For Hannah Reyes, the subjects that most captured her interest were English and math. The student also dedicated time to the school orchestra and softball team.
“I really liked English because they have a really good department,” Hannah Reyes said. “The teachers were very personable. They got to know you.”
Maya Reyes, who is also drawn to mathematics, took an advanced calculus class this past year — a challenging but rewarding experience. She also participated in the school orchestra, where she and her sister played the piano and the drums.
“I really liked orchestra because we got to play different pieces, from pop to classical,” Maya Reyes said. “We had a concert [last week] and we played a bunch of different pieces. It was really fun getting to know the girls there.”
After receiving acceptances to multiple top schools in the nation this spring, each sister had a difficult decision to make.
In the fall, Hannah will attend Northeastern University, where she is enrolled in the school’s Honors Program and will study computer science and business. Maya will go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she plans to study mechanical and aeronautical engineering and study abroad in South Africa or Australia.
In the coming weeks, each sister will have a chance to address the class of 2018 in a speech.
“There were a lot of different ideas I was thinking of in my head,” Maya Reyes said. “But I feel like when I finally looked [my speech] over — after a million tries — I feel like what I wrote is something I’m really proud of.”
To celebrate their achievements, the twins’ parents surprised them with a trip to Hawaii. The family will leave for the vacation shortly after graduation.
“We’re extremely proud of them,” father Nelson Reyes said. “They’ve worked very hard. Like every parent, we put them on a path, but it’s really up to them to really get to that end line. A lot of credit goes to them.”
