Thursday, October 1, 2026
“I want to be in a position where I can be comfortable with my life, where I can be happy,” Long Beach High School senior Jordan Ochs said, when asked about his plans for the future. “I have a certain layout of how I want to live, and if I don’t meet that layout, then I won’t be happy.”
By displaying such motivation and perseverance throughout their high school career, both Ochs and his classmate, Sophia Xu, have earned the respective titles of valedictorian and salutatorian of Long Beach High’s Class of 2011.
Due to his many achievements as a member of the National Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honor Society, Ochs said that he suspected that his academic endeavors would earn him the coveted title of valedictorian.
“It was a relief because it was somewhat expected, but it was good for it to be official,” said Ochs. “To know that all my hard work had ended on that note.”
As a student at Long Beach High School, Ochs has earned the University of Rochester Bausch and Lomb Award for Excellence in Science and the Rensselaer Science Medal. As the senior starting goalie the high school’s varsity soccer team, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 90 or above, Ochs also received the 2011 Nassau County High School Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
Ochs has also participated in various activities within the community that have nourished his passion for sports, he said.
“It’s important to reach out and to learn different things and to meet new people in the community,” said Ochs, who volunteers at the Long Beach Recreation Center as a referee and a baseball umpire. Ochs said that he hopes to gain experience in the world of sports so that he may pursue his professional aspirations of becoming a sports agent, with a background in law.
After graduation, however, Ochs said he plans on attending Georgetown University to study finance and accounting. Even though he looks forward to the challenging curriculum offered in college, Ochs said he is going to miss his high school friends.
