By the time you read this, the Freedom High Class of 2025 will already have had its graduation ceremony, which was held on May 23 at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall.
Every graduate has a story that has led them to this exciting milestone in their lives. Listed below are highlights of some of the extraordinary students from this class.
Outstanding seniors were recognized in the school’s annual Red, White, and Blue Awards Ceremony, held his year on Apr. 24.
Congratulations to Freedom High School’s top 10 students, according to their weighted grade point averages (GPAs).
1. Roham Farhardi Valedictorian
GPA: 11.04
College plans:
University of Florida,
Biomedical Engineering
Note – Roham Farhardi’s 11.04 GPA is the highest ever at Freedom, and is also the highest in all of Hillsborough County this year. GPAs above 4.0 are attained by taking college-level classes, including dual enrollment, advanced placement (AP) and AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education, a program offered by Cambridge Assessment International Education). Roham began taking dual enrollment high school classes in sixth grade and completed a total of 47 courses, while only 25-28 is typical. He is leaving high school with 96 college credits already earned, scored a 1580 out of 1600 on the SAT, and was named a National Merit Finalist, ranking among the top 15,000 students nationally of the 1.3 million who took the PSAT as a qualifying exam.
2. Rose Khosh
Salutatorian
GPA: 9.36
College plans:
University of Florida, Biology (Pre-Dental track)
3. Elena Le
GPA: 8.96
College plans:
University of Florida, Health Science
4. Zachary Harmon
GPA: 7.96
College plans:
University of Florida, Environmental Science
5. Joseph Afiat
GPA: 7.629
College plans:
University of Florida, Astrophysics
6. Gregory Murashkin
GPA: 7.44
College plans:
U.S. Naval Academy, Mechanical Eng. or
Quantitative Economics
7. Sunjay Bale
GPA: 7.359
College plans: University of Florida, Engineering
8. Anthony Murashkin
GPA: 7.345
College plans:
U.S. Air Force Academy, Mechanical Eng. or military & strategic studies
9. Emma Schroeder
GPA: 7.219
College plans:
University of Florida,
Sports & Business Mgmt.
10. Jorge Gonzalez
GPA: 7.023
College plans:
Hillsborough CC, then
University of Florida,
Criminology
In addition to naming its top-10 students, six scholarships were presented at the school’s Red, White and Blue Awards Ceremony. Given by the Freedom Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), each honoree below earned a $500 award:
Joseph Afiat is a leader in chorus, honor societies and campus initiatives. He will attend the University of Florida and plans to pursue a Master’s degree in STEM, hoping to work with innovative companies to use science to solve global problems.
Sarah McAveety is a campus leader who participates in clubs, sports and rigorous academics. She plans to attend the University of Central Florida and hopes to have a career in aerospace engineering, space exploration, or serving her country as a fighter-jet pilot.
Andrew Switzer is involved in student government, honor societies and created an e-sports program at Freedom. He plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at USF.
Nico Baisley was the manager for the softball team, participated in theatre, Best Buddies and other organizations. Nico plans to attend Hillsborough Community College and hopes to become a special education teacher.
The Radiance Orthodontics Community Service Award was presented to Emma Schroeder, recognizing her commitment to serving others. Emma served more than 400 hours during her high school career as a volunteer with RAISE, tutoring students in reading, writing and spelling, and participated in other organizations such as Key Club and Mu Alpha Theta. She will attend the University of Florida.
The PTSA also offered the anonymously funded Bridge Forward Scholarship, honoring a graduating senior who has demonstrated personal growth, resilience, and commitment to building a brighter future despite challenges. This scholarship was awarded to Jonathan Assefa, who plans to attend USF and pursue a career in cybersecurity. As a student with autism, Jonathan joined chorus to build social confidence and remained open to new experiences,. He hopes to inspire others with autism to break barriers, too.
Congratulations to the entire Freedom High School class of 2025!
Editor’s Note – Although photographer Charmaine George was able to take photos at the awards ceremony for Wharton High, neither myself nor Charmaine was available to attend the awards event at Freedom, so the top-10 photos, which were borrowed from Freedom’s Instagram page, and the information on this page were all we were able to provide for the school.
We apologize for not being able to do more to honor the graduating students at both of New Tampa’s high schools. — GN
