Graduation day at a Florida school featured a 17-year-old Malayali girl as the valedictorian of the international baccalaureate programme.

Karen Cherian, who was among about 400 seniors from Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida, that received diplomas at a ceremony, scored an outstanding Grade Point Average (GPA) of 7.64, said a press note.

She achieved such a high GPA by logging grades for courses she took up in addition to the stipulated courses.

She is also the recipient of awards like the President's Award, National Merit Finalist, All American Scholar, National Leadership and Service Award, and National English Merit Award.

A gifted singer, writer, orator and dancer, Karen plays tennis and guitar and can speak Malayalam, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish and Latin. As valedictorian, she delivered the graduation speech.

She began, "It is with great pleasure and a deep sense of humility that I stand here tonight to address you. I'm up here because I managed to end up with the highest GPA in the class, and of course, I'm No. 1 in the country.

"For some reason, that's supposed to mean that I somehow know more about life, and I should represent the class in imparting some final wisdom to everyone before running out of the door with the diploma in hand.

"Unfortunately, I'm rather short on life experience, so you really shouldn't believe any so-called advice I have. Call this a disclaimer for the rest of my speech. Results not typical."

An aspiring neurosurgeon, Karen has been enrolled in the University of Miami's seven-year accelerated medical programme with full scholarship and prior admission into Miller School of Medicine.