When Upraj Singh entered Benicia High School, he did not know he would be the top student in his class.

“Freshman and sophomore year, I didn’t even have a concept of what the valedictorian was,” he said. “It was only junior year I was seeing people striving for this position and basically striving for academic excellence, and I thought, I definitely could be part of them. So, junior year, I thought, I’m gonna strive for this position.”

Madeline Beyer figured she could rank near the top, but she had a lot of competition.

“I knew I was at the top for all four years and that I’ve always been a little bit ahead of everybody GPA-wise just because I was able to take a couple of AP classes early on,” she said, “but I never thought I’d make it to the top two. It was really competitive.”

The work paid off for Singh and Beyer who will be graduating this week as the respective valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2018.

“It’s a nice acknowledgment and reward for all the hard work that we’ve put in these past four years,” Beyer said.

“It feels quite amazing,” Singh said. “It feels like a true blessing that we’ve come this far and achieved this.”

However, Singh also acknowledged the great work that his peers had done.

“These people have so much to offer as well,” he said.

Singh and Beyer credit their teachers with their success, especially at the Advanced Placement level. Some of Singh’s favorite classes were biology and AP Biology, both taught by Melanie Voss.

“The way she teaches is truly amazing,” he said. “It wasn’t only teaching from a set curriculum. It’s also that a student has a question that deviates from the curriculum or is outside or is farther extended, that teacher basically told you to go and research that. Pushing the boundaries of general knowledge is what she really did, and that environment I didn’t really see in too many other classes.”

One of Beyer’s favorite classes was AP Computer Science Principles with Andreas Kaiser. It was the first class she took that was not being used to fulfill college requirements, and she was very impressed with Kaiser’s teaching methods.

“He allowed students to pursue their passions while still relating it to the coursework,” she said. “For example, I wanted to get into the hardware of computers, so he let me in on a project where I got to restore some laptops that we could then give away to people who needed internet access at home.”

“He really made an effort to engage students,” she added.

A shared favorite experience for Singh and Beyer was being in the Debate Club.

“At first, I wasn’t really into it because of the political atmosphere that it created,” Singh said. “However, after that, because we branched off into many different topics, I think it was interesting getting into that and basically being able to take down someone else’s point while maintaining your own. It also helped with the exchange of ideas as well as strengthening one’s own point of view or changing it.”

“While you may be debating on the side of something you don’t agree on, it really helps not only you but the people listening to you to expand their views,” she said.

Singh also enjoyed being president of the Philosophy Club, which he founded because he felt students were not in tune with “hardcore concepts” like the question “How do you define success?”

“For every person, it could be different and I think it’s quite important to talk about that because that’s going to set the tone for the rest of your life,” he said.

Beyer also enjoyed being part of French Club and being exposed to more cultural diversity. Among other things, the club went to France during spring break.

“(We) got to experience some of the things we talked about in French Club,” she said. “It was a great experience.”

Singh attributes much of his success to go beyond merely striving for an A but rather absorbing the material.

“Once you truly learn, high GPA and all these achievements will fall into place,” he said.

Beyer credits her friends with a lot of her success, especially on days when she was absent because of sports and clubs.

“You need friends (on these days) to help catch you up and give you the notes,” she said. “It’s OK to rely on people and ask questions when you don’t know things.”

Singh will be attending the University of California, Davis, where he plans to study in the Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior Department. Beyer will be going to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where she plans to double major in computer science and international relations.

In terms of parting advice, Singh suggests that students “value personal development” and “try to live a righteous lifestyle.”

“In the end, I think that’s what truly matters,” he said. “My class specifically, we’re different because of that. We’re good-natured, and in terms of the values that we uphold, we have a community-centric outlook. I think it revolves around being righteous, doing what is right and creating a community where we rely on each other and understand each other.”

For Beyer, the most important thing is for students to continue learning not just through school but also through things like hobbies.

“No matter where we all go after graduation, no matter what paths we take, we all should continue learning,” she said. “You may not be the best at something, but you can always learn and improve yourself.”

Benicia High School’s graduation will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 9 at the school’s Drolette Stadium, located at 1101 Military West.