Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in the Suffolk News-Herald’s annual series of stories on the valedictorians at Suffolk’s five high schools.

Allison Gottlieb is Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s 2017 valedictorian, and she plans to head off to the University of Virginia this year to study environmental science.

Gottlieb, who has accumulated a 99.2 grade point average on a 100-point scale, has attended NSA since kindergarten, as have most of her classmates.

“I think because of that, we’ll definitely be friends long down the road,” she said.

Gottlieb has enjoyed the close-knit environment of the school, including how the students are able to get to know the teachers on a personal level.

“I’ve gotten to know them beyond just what they teach in class,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb hopes to be a broadcast meteorologist, which would combine several of her loves.

“Growing up, I’ve been obsessed with ‘The Today Show,’” she said. She also loves to talk.

“I wanted to mix in that, and that’s something that mixes the two,” she said.

Gottlieb has been involved in numerous sports and activities during her high school career.

“I definitely enjoy being busy,” she said. “I’m not really a person that likes to sit still.”

Gottlieb participated in swimming, soccer and basketball. But her favorite sport was tennis, which she played all four years.

In tennis, she was first-team All State in singles and doubles with her doubles partner, Elvie Sellers. The two were also first-team All Conference in doubles, and Gottlieb was also captain of the team.

Her love of sports helped inspire her decision to go to the University of Virginia. She wanted a school that was strong academically where she could also watch Division I sports and play club sports. She hopes to make the club tennis team, which is quite competitive at U.Va.

Apart from the classroom and sports, Gottlieb was still active. She started the Young Democrats Club and was vice president of Outreach 360, a community service club that raises money to donate to nonprofit organizations or go on mission trips.

She was the lower school service chair in the National Honor Society. She was class vice president during freshman and sophomore years and secretary as a senior. She was a member of the French Club’s Relay for Life team.

If that weren’t enough, she is a lifeguard at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club, where she also teaches a tennis camp for children ages 5 to 15 and plays tennis year-round on intermediate and adventured junior team tennis and world team tennis. She’s also a Saints Ambassador and was a member of the prom committee.

Asked how she balanced it all: “Not sleeping much.”