PESH Class of 2026 Valedictorian Haosu Zhu and Salutatorian Vedant Sundar pose by the panther outside Plano East Senior High School. Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
The top two students in the Plano East Senior High School Class of 2026 have both attended Plano ISD schools since kindergarten. <\/p>\n
Valedictorian Haosu (Sam) Zhu grew up in Plano and attended Gulledge and Stinson Elementary Schools, Otto Middle School and then PESH.<\/p>\n
Salutatorian Vedant Sundar grew up in Richardson, but his neighborhood was zoned for Plano schools.<\/p>\n
Both students learned in 11 th grade that they were at the top of their class.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized I was at the top of my class in junior year,\u201d Sam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had first known of my rank as salutatorian in junior year,\u201d Vedant said. \u201cAfter that, Sam and I have had a pretty close push-and-pull for the top rank. I moved up to being valedictorian in the first semester of senior year and settled back to being salutatorian now in the final rankings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam plans to major in physics at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He said he has not decided on a career path but is considering opportunities in technology or academic research.<\/p>\n
Vedant will be attending the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be reading physics and mathematics,\u201d Vedant said. \u201cAfter my undergrad, I plan to pursue graduate and doctoral studies and go into research, either specializing in particle physics or theoretical condensed matter physics.<\/p>\n
Sam played junior varsity tennis in his junior year and Plano East varsity tennis his senior year.<\/p>\n
He also made All-Region during his four years in the PESH chamber orchestra, was concertmaster his senior year and played in the TMEA All-State orchestra for three years.<\/p>\n
Since his sophomore year, Vedant has been president of the East Math Circle, a group covering unconventional techniques and problems across areas of pure mathematics.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing from student to teacher, I coach MathCounts at my former middle school (Otto Middle School), where I introduce students to contest mathematics using a self-devised curriculum,\u201d he said. \u201cI am honored to have helped send 10 students to state in the past four years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of his remaining time in high school was taken by university level math and physics competitions. \u201cI have enjoyed [that] thoroughly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For nearly 10 years, Vedant has played the mridangam, an ancient South Indian double-headed percussion instrument, as well as the violin.<\/p>\n
He also has been a research intern for a projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.<\/p>\n
Sam\u2019s favorite high school memory was his last All-State chamber orchestra trip. \u201cPerforming alongside the best musicians in the state in my senior year made all the hours of practice throughout high school worth it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vedant said he was not awake for his favorite school memory \u2014 but saw the video.<\/p>\n
He and friends were participating in the week-long Power Round of the Texas A&M University\u2019s proof-based math contest. After 24 hours, Vedant said, he lost track of time and crashed in mid-sentence at 5 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily, my team members woke me up and we were able to submit our proofs by the 8 a.m. deadline, he said. \u201cBut it was pretty surreal to see videos of my team panic, roll me over and place a finger under my nose to check if I was still breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n