As acute senioritis and end-of-school laziness are setting in, it’s hard to imagine soon-to-be-graduates of UC High who are not only excelling in sports, academics, and extracurricular activities, but who have continued to maintain such high standards since 2009. Whereas the majority of us are struggling to simply find the will to finish off the school year, some students, such as Senior Austin Fikes, have managed to go above and beyond. In Austin’s case, this amount of dedication and perseverance will have proven its worth when he is honored as UC High’s 2012 Salutatorian during the commencement ceremony on June 12.
With a cumulative GPA of 4.7 and an impressive list of extracurriculars, Austin has had to manage quite a heavy load these past four years. His secret? An incredible work ethic. “I just came in with the idea that I’d take the hardest classes that I possibly could,” he said, “and that I’d try as hard as possible. If you can figure out how hard you’re willing to work, it’s really not all that bad, especially if you like to be challenged.” This type of thinking was inspired by Math Teacher Phil Huszar, who in Austin’s eighth grade year, introduced him to both challenging curriculum and the idea of serious dedication to difficult subjects. “It was the first time I was actually pushed academically. It gave me the impetus that I needed to work as hard as I could up through high school,” explained Austin.
A member of Academic League, Science Olympiad, Key Club, the Aaron Price Fellows Program, and the UC Boy’s Lacrosse Team, Austin has explored a wide range of interests, as well as developed new skills and pursued certain subjects that he believes will be useful for years to come. Science Olympiad, in which he served as co-president this year, particularly helped him in this way. “Honestly, I think the skills I learned and the dedication that I had to put in for Science Olympiad have really been more valuable to me than a lot of what I’ve done in any of my actual classes,“ said Austin. “Working in teams is always present, and it requires a large time commitment. It also lets me sort of work on engineering, which is something that I’ve always been interested in, but we don’t really do [in school].”
In fact, in September, Austin will be majoring in engineering at Harvey Mudd College, which, according to the US News and World Report website, has the best undergraduate engineering program in the country (usnews.com). This school is the perfect fit for him – it’s full of “normal, everyday people who just happen to love science, math, and engineering,.. meaningful and challenging classes, [and] research that undergraduate students at other schools can only dream of,” according to the Harvey Mudd website (hmc.edu). In addition to the extensive engineering program offered, Austin is particularly excited to experience Harvey Mudd’s “unique, nerdy atmosphere” and its infamously difficult (but rewarding) classes.
Until then, however, all that’s left for Austin to worry about is the annual Salutatorian speech he is scheduled to deliver during commencement. After that, regardless of what happens in the future, he is clearly ready and dedicated to the success awaiting him.