For these brothers, everything seems to come in two! Fraternal twins Devon Lee and Dylan Lee recently learned that they'd been named valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2024 at their school, Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, New York. The brothers were together in their orchestra class when the news was shared with them. Principal Joan Keegan told Good Morning America that it was intentionally planned to share the good news with the brothers while they were together during the school day.
"We purposely did it during that class," she said. "The teacher of the class just adores them, as do all their teachers, but … a lot of their peers who were top students were there also, so it was such a nice shining moment for the school and for the family."
In 2023, the brothers' older sister, Jeylin Lee, was Herricks' valedictorian. So to receive valedictorian and salutatorian for the twins was unexpected, especially because they consider their school to have a lot of high-achieving students.
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"I was a little bit surprised because our school is pretty competitive," Dylan shared with GMA. "So I wasn't completely sure if I would be getting the recognition or not. We know each other's GPAs as well and his is just slightly higher. So, we knew that if I were to be salutatorian, he was definitely going to be valedictorian. But … it was mostly a surprise for me."
Dylan earned a 4.218, while Devon earned a 4.224 GPA. Considering the small difference, the twins weren't at all concerned about their overall grades, and they weren't even in competition with each other as most people probably would've assumed.
"A lot of people often think that we could be very competitive with each other, being that we're twins in the same grade, taking a lot of the same classes," Dylan explained. "But really, that's actually not the case. We're definitely way more supportive of each other. We can often study together or help each other with homework if one of us needs help, and we often hold each other accountable."
He went on to add: "At the end of the day, while academics are important, it should not be everything in your life. Your life should not be centered around those number grades. There's a lot more to life than that."
And the twins have certainly made sure not to make school their entire lives. Their extracurricular activities included music, running, and volleyball. Devon says one of his "biggest achievements was pacing a half marathon" because of the discipline it taught him. Dylan, who is a double bass player, plans to audition for the orchestra when he heads to Yale University. Devon, who plays the cello, is attending Cornell University.
"I definitely will miss him to a certain extent," Devon shared. "It's honestly hard to imagine because we've had almost every experience of our lives together, and there aren't very many experiences that are really my own or unique to myself because I've always shared them with him. But I'm also excited to see what new opportunities and experiences that I'll experience."
