This Year's Star Students

Nine times? Nine times. That’s exactly how many days the iconic high school senior Ferris Bueller missed — and that was just in one year. So the fact that Husly Rivera, a Bushwick Academy senior, hasn’t chalked up a single absence in 14 years is wildly remarkable. To date, the 18-year-old has logged 2,500 days — even showing up the day after prom, when 83 of his 90 classmates decided to stay home and take it easy.

One year of perfect attendance eludes most kids. Even if you were to escape the improbable likelihood of never getting sick, there are plenty of otherwise unavoidable events: vacations, religious holidays, funerals, senioritis — need I go on?

But for some kids missing school just isn’t an option. Stefanie Zaner, 18, of Darnestown, Md. boasts a perfect attendance record, showing up 2,340 times. Even moving twice and changing school three times wasn’t enough to keep Brentsville District High senior, Kristen Waddle, 18, at home. She tells the Washington Post that according to her brother, staying home was boring — they had a strict no-TV policy. “We could sit in our room and read. That was it,” she said.

But something more than the mere threat of a day without American Idol reruns drives this excellence. Rivera’s teachers couldn’t seem to say enough about the soon-to-be John Jay College of Criminal Justice freshman. One told the New York Post, “He’s one of the most conscientious young men I’ve ever met.” Zaner’s former principal recalled her as “one of those kids you want in your school.”

If dedication and discipline are bedrocks of success, it’s likely these perfect attendees will accomplish whatever they set out to do.