Riley Tucker’s next educational adventure will unfold on a picturesque upstate campus hundreds of miles from his hometown. The Huntington High School Class of 2020 member plans to study accounting at SUNY College of Geneseo and get involved the many activities offered at the school.
“I chose SUNY Geneseo because of their beautiful campus, relatively small size and the activities and clubs and such offered, such as mock trial and fencing,” Mr. Tucker said. “I’m currently going in as an accounting major; no real minor thoughts yet. After college, I plan on either possibly going to law school or pursuing a career in forensic accounting.”
Huntington High School Class of 2020 member Riley Tucker.
An Advanced Placement Scholar, Mr. Tucker turned in a very solid four years academically.
“I think Huntington has prepared me for college through Advanced Placement work over the years,” Mr. Tucker said. “It’s more complex work with a set due date, which I feel definitely prepared me for the individual aspect of college. I also think the diversity offered by Huntington High School is a great view into college and even the real world and feeling comfortable with everyone and working with anyone. I definitely believe there will be a bit of an adjustment curve with college, but I feel decently ready.”
Like most Huntington High School students, Mr. Tucker had his favorite courses and teachers.
“I think the courses that remain the most ingrained in my mind and which played the most crucial role in my overall high school experience would probably be Honors Global/AP World History with Mrs. [Lauren] Desiderio and Personal Law with Ms. [Suzie] Biagi,” Mr. Tucker said. “There’s no single class in high school I remember more from than Mrs. Desiderio’s. I don’t know what it was, but she made all the history she taught interesting. And Personal Law with Ms. Biagi always felt like a mock trial meeting gone slightly astray, with a few more jokes and laughs along the way.”
Outside of class, Mr. Tucker found an activity that captured his interest and that he stuck with for six years.
“Easily my favorite activity over the past four years would be my time on the fencing team,” Mr. Tucker said. “Having been on the team since seventh grade, you become very, very close with everyone and to me it became a second family with some of my best high school memories where anyone new could join and quickly be inducted into our family.”
What’s Mr. Tucker’s advice to incoming freshman? “Definitely just enjoy every single part of high school and cherish the time there because clearly it could end really quickly,” he said in a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic that cut short his own senior year.
Mr. Tucker worked closely with Ms. Biagi, who probably came the closest to a mentor for the teenager. He received a lot of support throughout high school from his friends, including classmate Chris Bavaro, who is his closest friend.”
The teenager feels well-positioned to move on to college and deal with whatever he might encounter there or out in the world at large.
“Huntington is a really special school,” Mr. Tucker said. “From the environment in the hallways and classrooms to walking around the school seeing the faces of past teachers smiling and waving to you hello early in the day. The daily lunch for seniors, which often amounted to little more than time to drive around and enjoy the day, to the addition of the homecoming bonfire. I don’t think my experience could’ve been the same anywhere else. I think easily the thing I’ll miss most about this school is the staff. Senior year demonstrates the best the relationships and friendliness you can get with all the teachers during your time here.”
