Meet Oceanside’s top students

In many cases, valedictorians and salutatorians are academic rivals — they have very close GPAs, and compete with each other for every grade in the hope of ending up at the head of the class. But Oceanside High School’s top two seniors often talk on the phone, offering each other assistance with their schoolwork.

“We’re usually the ones on the phone helping each other out,” Valedictorian Michele Feinstein said of her relationship with Salutatorian Stacey Jackson. This is the first time since 2007 that two girls have held the top spots in an OHS graduating class.

The two have been friends since their freshman year, taking many of the same classes together and participating in many of the same extracurricular activities. They are both in the National Honor Society as well as the World Language Honor Society. They’re both members of the Interact Club (Feinstein is the Treasurer). They also both took all the Spanish classes they could and are learning Chinese as well.

Feinstein is a member of the Art Honor Society and Best Buddies, and enjoys horseback riding. Jackson is vice president of the Law Club and volunteers at local hospitals and other clinical care facilities.

Feinstein will graduate with a GPA of 104.663, and Jackson isn’t far behind her, with a GPA of 104.287. Both attribute their success in school to their family and friends.

“Definitely a lot of hard work and putting in all the effort I can and the encouragement of my family,” said Feinstein. “And my friends have always been helping me out, all through high school and in middle school, too.”

Feinstein will attend Cornell University in the fall, and plans to major in mechanical engineering. Jackson is heading to Union College and its intense eight-year medical program.

“The path I guess both of us are on, we’re going to have a lot of work to do,” Jackson said. “And commitment, knowing that there is an end result and we want a positive one, obviously. So we’re willing to put in the work, and hard work pays off.”

As they prepare for graduation, both girls are reflecting on their high school years. Jackson thought back on what she knows now that she wished she knew when she started as a freshman.

“Nothing’s really too hard,” she said. “You can accomplish things you never thought you could. You can take on a course load that you thought you’d be insane for taking. But you can pull through, and you look back and you’re like, wow.

“As much as it was hard at the moment, it really wasn’t that horrible,” Jackson continued. “You can get through if it’s something you really want to do.”