Alissa Sasso remembers how during her time as captain of the Hackensack High School academic decathlon team, each year had a theme: one year it was the Renaissance, the next year China, the following year the U.S. Civil War. But next year, she has a new theme: excitement, mixed with anticipation of the unknown.

"I’m excited, and I’m a little nervous to go to Princeton," says Sasso, 18, who will attend the prestigious, nearby Ivy League university in the fall. "I’m a little bit overwhelmed by the idea."

Don’t worry about Alissa. She may be apprehensive. But she is not unprepared. After all, she does have a plan. And she is about to execute it.

With balance of science and humanities, Princeton pleases Sasso

She considered other colleges such as Brown, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, but Sasso selected Princeton because she believed that although she plans to study chemical engineering at college, there is more out there to study than only math and science.

"I thought that Princeton had the most well-rounded education," says Sasso, who maintained a 4.0 grade point average in high school. "As much as I like science and math, I didn’t want to sacrifice learning about the humanities and everything else. Ever since middle school, I’ve always done well in math. I guess it’s maybe because the answers are more clear-cut, but there is still room for interpretation."

For Sasso, there is also room for options as she takes an early look at career opportunities.

"My idea right now is that I’ll study engineering as an undergraduate, then go to law school," she says. Alissa made it clear that she had no intentions to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Karen, who served as mayor of Hackensack from July 2006 to July 2007 and now serves on the city council. However, she does see some unifying themes in both engineering and law.

"I like logic, so I can see how law school could be a good place to go after college," she says.

With family and community behind her, Sasso ready to go

Hackensack has been a good place for Sasso to grow up. She is a product of Nellie K. Parker School, Hackensack Middle School and the city’s high school. While at Hackensack High, she played volleyball for four seasons and was on the swim team for her junior and senior years, enjoying good times with her friends.

At a moment of pride and achievement for Sasso, she admittedly enjoys being valedictorian, an honor that her three older brothers Guy, Dan and Matt did not achieve.

"They don’t really tell me that they are proud of me, because they don’t want me to get a big head," she says, laughing. "But I know that they are."

When she makes her speech before the over 400 graduates and assembled administrators, family and friends at the June 25 graduation ceremony, there is one man missing that she will be sure to mention.

"I know that I’m going to talk about Mr. DeFalco," she says, a reference to the late Joseph DeFalco, principal of Hackensack High School, who died on the day that he was elected to the city council in May 2005. "My class is the last class that actually had him as principal. He was part of our high school experience, and it’s important to mention him."

While she acknowledges the role of her teachers in helping her get to where she is now, for Sasso, it’s still family first.

"My mom and dad (Tom) didn’t exactly demand that I do well in school, but they were always there for me," she says. "They were there to help, no matter what kind of problem I had."

For the rest of her last high school summer, Sasso plans to spend as much time as possible down the shore. But no matter what lies ahead for Hackensack High School’s star student when she gets to Princeton in the fall, Sasso feels that she will take a piece of the county seat with her down the New Jersey Turnpike.

"Most people know that Hackensack is extremely diverse," she says. "I think that growing up here definitely helped me to grow up with an open mind, and it will definitely help me at Princeton. It was fun."