Westwood High School Valedictorian David Xiang has spent the last four years dedicated to a rigorous academic schedule all while serving as a leader among his peers. Now as David graduates at the top of his class, he’s looking forward to attending Harvard University, majoring in math.
David is a lifelong Round Rock ISD student, attending Pond Springs and Caraway elementary schools, Grisham Middle School and Westwood High School. David was a leader in the Westwood Math Circle, participated in Tennis, National Honor Society, Band, Orchestra and the German Academic Team during his time at Westwood.
Reflecting on the last four years, David said his biggest accomplishment is truly finishing high school and preparing for college.
“I find that a lot of the time when you struggle with something, once you get it you just instantly forget all the struggles that led up to it,” David said. “It’s really hard to say any particular thing. It just all kinda blurs into getting through high school as the chief accomplishment.”
Westwood Economics Teacher Bill Blaine said David’s personality is defined by his cheerfulness and lightheartedness.
“In so many ways I am in awe of David,” Blaine said. “His curiosity and intelligence appear to be boundless and his pursuits of knowledge and understanding are impressive to say the least. I can’t think of a better person to represent the pursuit and dedication to learning at Westwood than David Xiang.”
David plans on working in a math program this summer to guide other individuals through similar math programs of study while sharing his passion for the subject. And even after he’s gone, David said lessons from Westwood English Teacher Scott Chalk will remain with him as he steps into future endeavors.
“Through his very unorthodox classes, I really learned to ask myself questions and then answer in a satisfactory manner,” David said. “This has carried over from English to basically everything else.”
