Evelyn Moua was studying Calculus Monday afternoon when she received the call from family to step outside.
She was overwhelmed to see a large, socially-distanced gathering of administrators, teachers, and staff from Lathrop High, honoring her for being named salutatorian for the Class of 2020.
"I saw all the cars up front and thought they were throwing a party for someone down the street," Moua said. "I honestly didn't know all this was for me."
For Principal Greg Leland, her look of surprise was priceless.
He along with his wife, Debbie, led the caravan of some 20 cars from the LHS administration parking lot to the nearby home of Muoa's brother, Konmeng Muoa. Most in the drive-by parade stayed inside their vehicles while celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of this year's salutatorian.
"It was great to share this time with Evelyn and her family. It's a big deal, especially for her younger (cousins) -- they'll always remember this moment," said Leland.
He noted that the race for the top academic honors involved four or five students, with Muoa and valedictorian Joshua Vargas -- he had a weighted 4.33 GPA -- emerging to the top of the class of 270 seniors. "It was that close," he later said.
Evelyn Muoa is the daughter of Kou and Lee Muoa, and is the youngest of six siblings.
She's ibeen in the Manteca Unified School District thoughout her young life, starting off at Lathrop Elementary School as a kindergartener and all the way through LHS.
"I expected high school to be a lot different," said Muoa, who imagined some sort of Hollywood version with off-beat cliques dressed as emo.
It was hardly that nor the drama. Rather, LHS allowed her to grow and open up her world.
"I think I grew up socially. I used to be shy and introverted," Muoa said.
She was involved in band, playing the flute and piccolo while earning first chair in the prestigious County Honor Band and MUSD Honor Band.
Moua, in addition, was president of the Band Club. She was commissioner of publicity for both the College Bound Club and the Women Empowerment Club.
Her future plans include going to Sacramento State in the fall -- Moua also looked at UC San Diego and UC Davis -- where she's looking to pursue a career in Infectious Disease.
"I've been interested in that field since my junior year," Moua said. "But what's going on with the COVID-19 pandemic has only strengthened my choice."
