Wreck Tech, Sci Versus Stuy, and Rivalries—Oh My!

As Stuyvesant students match against students from other high schools in sports games, STEM competitions, and debate tournaments, a sense of rivalry inevitably forms. This competition manifests itself in daily jokes, passing comments, and cheers for Stuyvesant teams. However, the complex relationships formed from frequent interactions with “rival” schools and inter school rivalries are not what they seem.

Many students are familiar with student remarks about other schools. Junior Bihan Liu shared, “Most of the time I’m saying it as a joke to my friends. I’m like, ‘Oh, you guys can never be as good as my school,’ but when I’m saying it, I actually don’t mean it. I feel like every school has their ups and downs, and Stuy isn’t any different.” Cracking jokes about another school is fun, but engaging in this banter doesn’t necessarily inflate or distort students’ perceptions of their own school.

Vick Volovnyk, a junior at Hunter College High School, competes on the swim team, which often matches with Stuyvesant in competitions. Volovnyk sees the Hunter-Stuyvesant rivalry as bark without real bite. “Almost everybody treats it like a running joke. Nobody, as far as people I am in contact with, genuinely hates Stuyvesant. But ‘Hunter rejects’ is said once a week,” Volovnyk said.

Rosie Kopelman, a senior at Brooklyn Technical High School, feels like her school shares a unique dynamic with Stuyvesant. “In the daily announcement emails or on the loudspeaker—if a team beat Stuyvesant in a sport or other competition—there will be a bigger deal made of it [than with other schools], and everyone celebrates more. There’s just a general understanding that Stuy is our main rival, even if individual people don’t care that much about it,” she said. On the other hand, Kopelman’s firsthand experience on a sports team contradicts this narrative of bitter competition. “I will say that I used to play Ultimate Frisbee for Tech and the Stuy girls team was so lovely; we were all friends,” Kopelman said.

Junior Asan Ali, a member of Stuyvesant’s wrestling team, recalled a specific instance where sports teams actually had rivalry. “We wrestled Brooklyn Tech the other day, and the first time I was walking down the halls, I heard like ‘Oo Stuy’ or something like that, mocking us in the corner,” he said. Some Stuyvesant students do make comments regarding other schools such as the Bronx High School of Science or Brooklyn Technical High School, so the rivalry is kept alive by similar rebukes from all schools. Ali explained, “So in the match it’s definitely not as friendly, but after the match and outside of it, it’s like a friendly rivalry. [..] I think the rivalry can be exaggerated by people who haven’t actually been to games because, at the end of the day, it’s never that serious. We’re just here to have fun.” Many members of various schools’ teams are already acquainted with people from rival teams, whether through joint training, shared middle school experiences, or tangential friendships—something that other students may not be aware of.

Even for senior Sophia Tom, who has a twin sister in The Bronx High School of Science, it is hard to fully understand what life at another school is like. “I wouldn’t say I know so much about it; I know an aspect of it, and I think she’d probably say the same thing. There’s a lot she doesn’t know, and there’s a lot I don’t know,” Tom shared.  

In order to better bond with people from other schools, competition between sports teams can be a conversation starter or a go-to icebreaker. “Whenever I meet someone at an internship, I ask them, ‘Where are you from?’ and they’re like, ‘I’m from Stuy.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m from Tech. We beat you in the football game,’ and that’s what the rivalry is more about,” Misa Lin, a senior at Brooklyn Technical High School, said. For Lin, the rivalry doesn’t feel especially complex or rooted in any specific cause. Instead, it can actually be an opportunity for real friendship between schools. “But I know that you have escalators. And that makes me really mad,” Lin added.

For Hakimah Malam, a junior at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, it feels easy to imagine how students at other schools view her high school. “I feel like a lot of other schools look down on us because we didn’t have a test deciding if we’re in or not—we just did it based on the audition. But we do realize that students from other, regular schools wanted to get into LaGuardia if they were musically talented, but they didn’t get in,” Malam said.

On the other hand, some students appreciate the arts programs Stuyvesant offers that may otherwise not have been available to them. During her visits to see Bronx Science performances, Tom pinpoints things that are different. “Not saying escalators are everything, but our facilities are a lot more modern; our performances—our art—is a lot better, too. SING! is a prime example—we have three nights and the theater is full. [Bronx Science] does two nights; their theater is not even a quarter full, so there’s definitely a greater emphasis on arts here than at Bronx Science,” Tom said. This affects the dynamic between two students for whom art is an important part of a school’s offerings. “I think [my sister] definitely envies that a little bit because she’s even artsier than I am, and she doesn’t really have opportunities as much; like choir—our choir program’s really big whereas they only have one choir and it’s really small,” Tom noted. 

While the opportunities in each school are different, it is still possible to form communities. Senior Daniella Solomon, whose twin brother attends Brooklyn Technical High School, appreciates the unique ways that student initiatives further Stuyvesant’s community. “From what I’ve told him about Stuyvesant, [my brother] is kind of jealous about how much initiative we can take here. Things like STC and SING! are entirely student-run. We have so many opportunities to push things forward as students. [At Tech,] the kids who actually work in theater production are paid to do so,” she said.

When it comes to the question of “getting in” or not, much of the separation between schools depends on a margin of a few points on the SHSAT. This question of admission is further complicated by the opportunity to retake the SHSAT freshman year in the hopes of gaining admission for sophomore year at a different school. In Volovnyk’s case, choosing to switch to Stuyvesant would’ve led her down a completely different path. “I genuinely considered transferring because I would have cut my commute in half. I did the test; I went to the orientation; I almost switched,” Volovnyk said. Her decision ultimately rested upon which school would be better for her. “Hunter is, I think for me, more student-guided, and you have science electives you’re supposed to take [at Stuyvesant] that I’d prefer not to. [...] I had relationships with my teachers in middle school, and I wanted to keep continuity. There’s a benefit to having a six-year school system. It’s good,” Volovnyk said. In this way, there is no superior school, only schools that cater to students with different interests and priorities.

On top of the overlapping paths that students take before high school, many students also encounter parallel challenges once in high school. “You guys struggle; we struggle. Both of our schools are sometimes out to get us through the number of tests they assign. And there is a shared camaraderie in the fact that we are making it work, and we are able to have these [civic engagement] programs outside of school, even though we have to take care of all the responsibilities schools like to throw at us,” Habibah said. Despite the differences between schools and the frequent rivalry, shared academic struggles provide an instant solution to getting along.

Like Habibah, Kopelman also noted the similarities between all New York City high school students. “We all have to walk up a bajillion stairs; we deal with crazy teachers; we take a bunch of tests; we hang out in the same spots; we get cheap coffee from Rocky’s Deli,” she said. 

For Tom, having a twin at Bronx High School of Science allows her to juxtapose the academic workload each school offers. “Their teachers don’t give them homework that’s due a day after break,” she said. “I’ve never heard [my twin] complain about having a bad teacher, but I feel like it’s very hit or miss at Stuyvesant,” Tom said. From her observations, she’s noticed some disparities. “The teachers [at Bronx Science] seem to respect their mental health and want them to get rest more than the teachers here,” Tom said. 

Solomon feels Stuyvesant has more of an academic rivalry than an athletic one with her brother’s school. “We always have arguments over whose GPA was harder to achieve—we have the exact same GPA—whose extracurriculars are better; it’s very mathematical,” she said. Even so, she and her brother have reached a consensus about which school’s academics are more demanding. “We both kind of agreed that Stuyvesant is harder to get a good grade in, even if the actual academic rigor is the same—the grading is just harsher,” Solomon said. “We were both learning the same amount, but there would be random things I would get more points taken off for than he would.”

Junior Catherine Chan transferred to Stuyvesant after taking the SHSAT on a whim during her first year at Brooklyn Technical High School. “This might make me sound like a nerd, but I took [the SHSAT] for fun. I didn’t study or anything, and then I just got in,” she said. “When I was trying to transfer, my guidance counselor was never there—that was kind of the tipping point. And now I have Ms. Pedrick! Best guidance counselor ever.” Now at Stuyvesant, Chan notices opportunities that wouldn’t have been available to her if she hadn’t transferred. “I think I just thrive in a smaller school—Tech was so big, and the teacher-to-student ratio wasn’t terrible, but it was more competitive,” said Chan. Initially, because of the reputation that accompanies the Stuyvesant name, Chan’s parents were reluctant about the transfer. “They said that it would be way too competitive and a bad environment compared to Tech, because they both went to Tech, but I have this thing where I don’t want to regret any of my decisions, so I said, ‘why not?’” Two years later, Chan is happy to have made the switch.

In some cases, students in schools across the city decided not to choose entirely between one school or another. Through her work leading Bronx Science’s Muslim Students Association (MSA), Habibah has fond memories of connecting with Stuyvesant’s MSA. “For our MSA and Stuyvesant’s, we’ve gone to multiple regional and national conferences; regional means local high schools against one another, so there’s friendly rivalries between [our schools]. But when we get to Nationals, it’s a whole different story. At Nationals, Stuy and Bronx Science were a coalition team, so all that rivalry was gone, and students came together as the New York Team,” Habibah said. 

Similarly, Ali trains with the wrestling team’s major rivals—Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and Hunter—while Hunter’s math team travels to Stuyvesant every Friday. “Even personally, I’m part of the Brooklyn Tech; they have a wrestling club, and I train with those dudes in the off-season,” Ali said. Despite the label of rivals, these schools are more interconnected than one might think and often work together instead of against each other.

There is no superior school—despite what rankings may hint at—nor is there as much of a constant competition as one might think. Indeed, rivalry is not everything when there are friendships, partnerships, and close bonds that develop between schools. It is this constant rivalry and cooperation that link Stuyvesant with the schools surrounding us. Tapping into these connections can create lasting—and surprising—bonds.