Before becoming Class of 2015 valedictorian and salutatorian at Morse Marshall School for the Gifted, Anthony Eruchalu and IaThao had to adjust to their new school system and language. Eruchalu's family moved here from Nigeria, Thao's from Thailand.
“It was very hard to adapt. Like just trying to fit in and learning the new language was very difficult for me. First day of school, I hated it. I didn’t know what to do. I would just sit at the desk, staring at the wall, very nervous. I didn’t know what to do. So it was very hard to adapt to the new country,” Thao admits.
Thao credits her parents for motivating her to succeed in American schools. Eruchalu tells the same story about his parents.
"I think it’s something that they expected from me because my older brother that graduated last year, he came in at the top of the class. So I think they have faith in me to do the same thing too. They push me a lot, to make sure I get everything done,” Eruchalu says.
Eruchula and Thao - who delivered speeches at Sunday's graduation ceremony, also praised teachers who helped guide them through school. The two new grads urged their fellow classmates to be persistent.
"It's just about not giving up, because that's one of the things people like to do but, it's about not giving up," Thao says.
Now the hard work will pay off for the two MPS graduates who shared an aeronautics class at Morse Marshall. Thao will go to Marquette University for mechanical engineering, Eruchualu will attend UW-Madison for pre-med. Both received full rides.