Standout Scholar

Maui High senior Michael Wong is one of 16,000 seniors across the U.S. who achieved semifinalist standing from among a field of 1.5 million competitors in the prestigious 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. Impressive, yes, but by no means surprising. His high school resume boasts a 4.23GPA, a hefty mix of advanced placement and college-level courses, an SAT score of 1570, an ACT score of 36, and it continues with a string of awards and leadership involvement primarily based in Math, Science, and Community Service. Beyond what his solid resume tells us, we sought to get to know him better on a personal level. Fortunately, the studious Saber willingly took some time to indulge our inquiries.

Michael serves as President of Maui High's district champion Math team

Outside of academics and service, how does the intellectually superior scholar spend his time? In mentioning his hobbies, Michael points to reading, camping, and playing board games with his brother Quinton. “We like to play backgammon, Scrabble, and card games,” Michael shares. “I think backgammon is our favorite game. Quinton is more competitive, but I'm a less graceful loser.” His favorite book is ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’, which he says is the book that sparked his enjoyment of fictional novels. His love for camping was likely fostered through his participation in Boy Scouts, in which he is currently working on the highest rank of Eagle Scout.

Michael’s resume obviously indicates a relentless dedication to his studies, but what fuels such a drive to excel? “My parents, my brother, and my teachers/mentors drive me to succeed,” he says. “I’m inspired by mother Adrienne and her hard work, and I’m inspired by my father Gary and his resourcefulness. Quinton drives me to exceed because of his work ethic and consistency.”

Michael with brother Quinton at 2020 Hawaii Science Bowl

While Michael may be in consideration for a National Merit Scholarship, sadly we learned that he is the only member of his family who cannot whistle or curl their tongue. That’s okay Michael. Nobody’s perfect. Speaking of imperfections, the honor student does get into trouble from time to time. As a child, Michael once got into trouble for putting popcorn in a container full of soap and freezing it. Hmmm. Well, that almost sounds like a Tik Tok challenge, but Tik Tok did not exist back then. So what exactly was Michael trying to do there? “I froze the popcorn because I was into dinosaurs and fossils, so I wanted to replicate the process,” he explains. Okay, that makes sense. Hilarious!

If he could go anywhere, Michael would want to travel to Europe to visit Rome, Paris, Britain, and other European cities. After high school, he hopes to attend a four-year university and obtain a degree in either Engineering or Actuarial Science. Don’t worry! I had to look up ‘actuarial science’ too. Wikipedia informs us that “Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, finance, and other industries and professions. More generally, actuaries apply rigorous mathematics to model matters of uncertainty.” Ahhhhh. Do we all feel enlightened?!

With his senior year having only just begun there is plenty of time for Michael to add new accolades to his already admirable resume. We will have to wait until next spring to find out if the coveted title of ‘2021 Merit Scholar’ will be among them. Until then we wish the non-whistling popcorn fossil maker the best of luck!