Arianna Edelman and Avery Mulvey have been best friends since they were four years old, climbing trees, jumping rope and taking dance classes together.
A few weeks ago as seniors in high school, the two were called into the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s front office where they learned they had the identical highest grade point average in the school, making them co-valedictorians.
“We hugged in the hallway,” Ms. Mulvey remembered.
“It was really cute,” Ms. Edelman said.
Both women said they couldn’t dream of a better way to end high school, though neither had been focused on being number one. Ms. Mulvey said being the valedictorian was never on her mind. Ms. Edelman said it was only on hers because her brother, Jaiden Edelman, earned the title in 2020.
At Sunday’s graduation ceremony at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, Ms. Edelman and Ms. Mulvey will walk beside their classmates and give separate valedictory speeches. The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m.
Though the two have been close for most of their lives, they took different educational paths. Ms. Edelman went to the West Tisbury School and Ms. Mulvey attended the Tisbury School. When they started high school, Ms. Edelman had a preference for history classes and Ms. Mulvey science.
They said throughout their friendship they encouraged one another, which could have played a role in their becoming co-valedictorians.
“I feel like we always push each other,” Ms. Mulvey said.
“A hundred per cent,” Ms. Edelman agreed.
Since they were little, the two would read the same books and discuss them together. They would team-up for class projects, and won awards at the science fair during their sophomore year for creating a hydro dissolvable plastic out of gelatin.
They said their support for one another was the most intimate after they both succumbed to injuries. Ms. Edelman tore her ACL during her sophomore year, and Ms. Mulvey tore her ACL her junior year. They even have the same scar.
Ms. Edelman’s injury occurred during lacrosse season. She also played field hockey, but after the injury she had to take a step back from both sports.
“I couldn’t move my leg, and [nurses] were helping me as much as they could,” Ms. Edelman said.
Wanting to remain a part of the teams, Ms. Edelman became the manager for both field hockey and lacrosse. And in the final semester of her senior year, she was able to get back on the lacrosse field.
Ms. Mulvey tore her ACL just before baseball season, a sport she had been playing at the high school since freshman year, when she became the first woman at the school to try out and make the men’s baseball team.
“I played it my entire life... [and] I didn’t feel like switching to softball,” Ms. Mulvey said. “No heat – it’s just a different sport.”
Ms. Mulvey said there was pushback when she first joined the baseball team, but she was motivated to play. After her injury ended her season, she followed Arianna’s lead and managed the team for two years.
“It was nice because [Arianna] had already gone through it,” Ms. Mulvey said.
Both said they felt lucky to have grown-up on the Vineyard. They cherish the Island beaches and the forests. They share a favorite view, looking-out from the Vineyard Haven drawbridge and watching the sailboats in the harbor.
They were active in the community, particularly through extracurriculars.
Ms. Edelman interned with the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services CONNECT to End Violence program where she helped design health-class curricula and put-together emergency supply bags given to survivors at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
That experience inspired her work leading the high school’s UpROOT club, which raises awareness about sexual assault and stalking. Ms. Edelman revamped the club and helped create a support group, in conjunction with Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, for students who were impacted.
Ms. Mulvey was involved with the student council, and is this year’s student body president. She also started the Women of MV club her junior year, of which Ms. Edelman is a member.
Through the club, Ms. Mulvey secured a $10,000 grant to get free menstrual products throughout the school. Prior, she said the products weren’t the best quality and weren’t regularly supplied in every bathroom. She also reached-out to the Woman’s Club of Martha’s Vineyard to hold intergenerational discussions over lunch.
In the fall, Ms. Edelman will attend the University of Michigan where she plans to major in psychology.
“I’ve always loved history and learning about people,” Ms. Edelman said. “[I] took AP psychology this year and really loved learning about human behavior.”
Ms. Edelman’s dad is a therapist and seeing how many lives he’s touched, combined with her experience interning with the CONNECT to End Violence program, motivated her to pursue a career where she could help others.
Ms. Mulvey will attend the University of Pennsylvania, her dream school, as part of its nursing program. She also wants to pursue a career where she can help others, and was inspired by the care she received when she tore her ACL.
“I was just so struck by the nurses,” Ms. Mulvey said. “They’re so calm, they’re so poised.... They’re so on top of it and I got to build relationships with so many of them.”
Ms. Mulvey also participated in the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital’s student shadowing program to give her a fuller picture of her chosen field.
Both valedictorians are excited about their next chapters, but said the general feeling around graduation is bittersweet. Next year, they will miss seeing their family and friends each day and the teachers who educated them.
But while the future presents many uncertainties, they said there is one thing they know for sure.
“We’ll always have each other to come back to,” Ms. Edelman said.
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