Los Lunas High School 2020 Valedictorian
Matthew Marry

Matthew Marry

Family: Parents, Mark Marry and Anne Marry; siblings, Chris Marry and Kelly Marry

Plans after graduation:

“I plan to go on to college to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering.”

What is your best memory from your time during high school?

“My favorite memory from high school is spending time with my friends, whether that be in class, at practice, or outside of school.”

What did it take to become valedictorian?

“The biggest thing that it took was just determination that this was a goal I wanted to achieve and doing everything I needed to in order to achieve it.”

What is the best advice you can give the underclassmen?

“The best advice I can give to underclassmen is to make friends. High school can be a great time as long as you have people you can enjoy it with, and having a good group of friends can make even the worst class tolerable. Join clubs and sports, and just find ways to get involved with other people.”

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic closed the school in your senior year, what are you most proud of yourself for during this trying time?

“During this time, the thing that I am most proud of is keeping up with all of my schoolwork, both my dual credit classes and my high school ones. I’m also happy that I’ve stayed in contact with most of my friends despite no longer seeing them daily.”

Los Lunas High School 2020 Salutatorian
Forest Good

Forest Good

Family: Parents, Michael Good and Diana Good; brother, Josh Good

Plans after graduation:

“I plan to attend New Mexico Tech and to study physics.”

What is your best memory from your time during high school?

“The trip our band took to Denver at the end of my freshman year will always stand out in my mind. We were making the trip because we were participating in a concert band competition.

“All the other bands got snowed in on the competition day meaning we won practically all the awards. The rest of the time we just spent exploring Denver and messing around.”

What did it take to become salutatorian?

“Becoming salutatorian mostly came out of a determination to do my best in all my classes. It was never about beating out everyone else or trying to get on top. It was just my drive to not do any less than what I thought I could do. Of course, taking a lot of AP classes never hurts.”

What is the best advice you can give the underclassmen?

“I would tell most underclassmen the same advice that helped me become salutatorian. They should try not to hold themselves back by not putting forward their best self or their best work.

“Also, I would tell them to not put limits on themselves so that they don’t end up thinking there are things they are not capable of.”

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic closed the school in your senior year, what are you most proud of yourself for during this trying time?

“To be completely honest, the most useful thing I’ve done is to not freak out or lose motivation. I’ve just done what I’ve always done — just at home.

“Of course, it’s not as great as seeing my friends all the time, but it’s what we’ve had to do for the time being. Other than that, I’ve just tried to remain calm and hopeful and to make the best out of the situation that I can.”

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