When Gerali Mateo graduated from Dorchester Academy on June 6 at the Strand Theatre, she was honored to serve as her class valedictorian. It was the culmination of both her academic work as well as a little friendly competition.

“I had a friend who was always in all of my classes, and we made it a friendly competition who was going to be the top of the class. So I was always hoping to be valedictorian,” she said.

Mateo, 17, who moved to Dorchester from the Dominican Republic four years ago, received a number of additional accolades, including High Honors, Perfect Attendance, and Upward Bound Top Scholar. She is also the recipient of the Scientist Award by UMass Boston. In addition to her academic achievements, Mateo was a member of the school’s government board, Emerging Leaders, for three years.

Mateo will be attending Boston University in the fall, where she hopes to pursue her life-long passion for science through a pre-med program, with the goal of pursuing a career in pediatrics.

“I’m planning to major in human physiology and hopefully go to med school. I’ve always been interested in science, and I also like working with little kids so I’m leaning towards pediatrics,” she said. Mateo also plans to pursue a minor in visual arts, as drawing has long been a favorite hobby of hers. “I’ve been drawing since I was four so it’s a habit I’d like to keep and develop for the rest of my life,” she said.

Mateo’s ultimate dream, however, stems from her time working at the Boston Youth Organizing Project, a youth advocacy group with a focus on social justice.

“I have this really big dream. I’m hoping, maybe 30 years down the road, I don’t know how long, but I want to have a non-profit organization that deals with equal medical treatment for people with disadvantaged backgrounds,” she said.  

In addition to Gerali Mateo, congratulations to the following graduates of Dorchester Academy: Shanane Barrett, Deandre Black, Dervon Boyd, Danielle Brooks, Kyle Broomfield, Marctania Chery, Theresa Coleman, Bintou Conte, Michael Dixon, Dominique Dorsey, Marsha Exavier, Randy Fernandez, Jayni Hallsamuels, Pablo Herasme, Brittany Jamie, Kay-Ann Jones, Deross Jordan, Jason Kennedy, Chet Lazare, Alyssarae Lienas, Christian Martinez, Arisbel Medina, Liandro Mejia, Naisha Mejia, Damika Monteiro, Tommy Nguyen salutatorian), Majesty O Garro, Daniel Padilla, Joseph Parker, Kimberly Petion, Vanessa Pierre, Johnson Remy, Jhimpsley Richard, Destanie Rodrigues, Nicole Rodriguez, Stephanie Rodriguez, Zenia Sequeira, Sarah Severin, Shatonah Smith, Malik Tarrant, Quan Tran, Phuc Truong, Marcus Wadebaptiste, Cabriya Wallace, Briana Xaier.