Meet Zoe Gray, the PSHS valedictorian who has been reaching for the cosmos since fifth grade

The moment Zoe Gray saw the giant check, she started crying.

She was sitting in her science class. “Mr. Goehring told me to sit down and I was like, ‘I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going on,” said Gray, Palm Springs High School’s 2026 valedictorian.

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Her classmates sat nearby as administrators slowly filed into the science classroom. First came the principal, Michael Ventura, patting her on the back. Then her college counselor walked in carrying flowers and balloons. Gray assumed it was recognition for becoming valedictorian.

Then she saw the oversized check.

“In my mind I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a giant check,’” she said, laughing.

Moments later, representatives from Southern California Edison announced that Gray had received a $50,000 Edison Scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where she plans to study astrophysics or physics.

Years before the Berkeley acceptance letter, there was a fifth-grade Zoe learning about black holes.

“My Dad showed me the very first picture of the black hole that NASA had taken,” she said. “I thought they were invisible. Like, what do you mean we can see it?”

Eight years later, she is still chasing the same question: how do you see something invisible?

“I love the mystery side of things,” she said. “And with mystery there comes discovery.” 

She talks about black holes with the same excitement she uses to describe jazz competitions in Las Vegas or the ceramics studio she discovered senior year. One moment she is discussing Mars rovers; the next, she is talking about friendship bracelets, church groups or how she might want to study abroad in Switzerland someday.

Listening to Gray talk can feel like watching one of Palm Springs High School’s standout seniors stand at the edge of adulthood with every door suddenly cracked open.

She attended Coachella during sophomore year, met Paul McCartney when she was two years old and still spends her free time driving across town to see her best friend, Phoebe Goehring. Then there are the quieter nights, when she drives toward Joshua Tree and looks at the stars.

She walked out of her science classroom with a scholarship, a future at Berkeley and a much bigger sky waiting for her there.

Get to know her below.

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Name: Zoe Gray

How long have you lived in the desert? 18 years

Neighborhood: North Palm Springs

What keeps you here? My friends I’ve known for my whole life

Do you have family here? Yes, my mom, dad, and younger sister

What is your favorite time of the year here? Summer; regardless of the weather, I just like being off of school to have more time to make crafts.

How do you beat the heat? Swimming very frequently, and reading indoors!

Do you have a personal philosophy by which you live? To always seek joy in all that you do

What’s your favorite place to eat? BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse or In-N-Out

What’s the biggest issue facing our community? Broken relationships

What’s your favorite thing to do or place to go in the desert? I love finding good spots around town to watch the sunset and my favorite place to go is the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. 

What’s your guilty pleasure? Chocolate!

What would you tell people about Palm Springs that they might not already know? Palm Springs is not where Coachella is; the music festival is in Indio, which is about 30-40 minutes away.

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