Class of 2021 Salutatorian: Zisheng Luo

SALUTATORIAN ZISHENG LUO

This year’s Class of 2021 Salutatorian is Zisheng “Aaron” Luo!

Kisyl was born and raised in Front Royal, and first arrived at R-MZisheng joined R-MA as a freshman international student from China. Far from home, Zisheng found comfort in having extended family living nearby upon his arrival in Front Royal. Once on campus though, he was forced to go outside of his comfort zone to learn and understand his new surroundings. As Luo stated, “My first impression was, it’s a military school. It was a little scary.”

To alleviate this sense of uncertainty, Zisheng set out to meet new friends. Luo explains his mindset coming to campus, “Honestly, the best advice is to interact with lots of people to find your own niche. For me, it is best to find someone you can relate with and someone who makes you feel comfortable to share your thoughts with.” One of Zisheng’s niches was in his initial ESL courses freshman year. His teachers and fellow classmates in the ESL program helped him feel at ease, more included in the community, and most importantly ready for his other classes.

While at R-MA, Zisheng’s favorite, and most challenging course, was Mr. Eric Barr’s Calculus BC class. And in stark contrast to his passion for math, Zisheng also enjoyed his AP Government and AP US History classes with Dr. Larry Cousineau. Luo explained, “I’m a big fan of math, physics, and STEM subjects in general, but I also read a lot of history, so I enjoy learning about it. Dr. Cousineau is a great teacher and a great lecturer that made class interesting.”

Interests outside the classroom kept Luo busy in his free time. Luo shared, “I love tennis. I probably play every single day. I hope to keep playing for fun for a long time.” Aside from his passion for tennis, Zisheng was also involved with the swim team, served as Secretary of National Honor Society, was Senior Prosecutor for Honor Council, as well as a piano player in the school chorus. His musical talents transferred over to the school marching band as well. In fact, one of his favorite memories from his four years at R-MA was when the marching band, under Bandmaster Ed Richards’ coordination, took a trip to New York City to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Luo shared, “It was really cool to be in front of so many people. I’m pretty sure they televised it too which was awesome that so many people could see us perform.”

Now Zisheng has his eyes set to the future where he awaits a bright future at Washington University in St. Louis. In keeping with his passion for STEM subjects, Zisheng plans to study computer science while attending Washington University.