I attend the Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics, and Computing in Maryville, Missouri. The Academy is a program for gifted juniors and seniors. When I graduate, I will receive an Associates of Science along with my high school diploma. My diploma will still come from Hazelwood West, my sending school.

I was accepted to the Academy half way through my junior year on the basis of my strong test scores and grades to replace a student who had left the program. Therefore, I did not complete my junior year at my sending school and only have half a credit for the classes I was taking that year. Because I was involved in band, I could not start taking foreign languages till my junior year. I do have half a credit of German, but could not continue to take German at the Academy.

During the summer before my senior year, I attended both the University of Missouri - St. Louis and St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley.  During that summer, I took three classes to make up for required classes I had missed because of missing a semester at the Academy.

In the summer of my junior year, I attended the Missouri Scholars Academy, a three-week program held on the campus of the University of Missouri - Columbia. 330 scholars a year are recruited to attend and take two rigorous classes from a variety of subjects taught by distinguished high school and college professors in Missouri. I chose a class in world news and debate and a class in stage performance.

Throughout high school, I have constantly been on the honor roll. At my sending school, I was involved in marching band, jazz band, full orchestra, and math club. I have continued math club at the Academy and am participating in Model United Nations this year. I had been a Boy Scout since first grade, quitting because of conflicting times with marching band. I have 60 hours of community service from Vacation Bible School, and participated in a community service project in May 2007 to create graphing calculator manuals for math classes at the Academy. In May 2008 I will be involved in another service project.