Discus Award Winner
Winners Gallery
PHOTOS
Gabriel Ferrick
12th Grade, CA
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
While employed and representing my school as Senior Class President, I have earned a 4.54 cumulative GPA. I enjoy the challenge of rigorous coursework, have taken AP and IB classes, and am currently enrolled in chemistry and IB Physics 2. Having completed the math offered at my school, I took second year calculus at SR Junior College. I have been on the honor roll every semester, a California Scholarship Federation member, a National Merit Commended Scholar and I received an Advanced Placement Scholar Award with scores of 5 (the highest possible) in both Calculus and Statistics. I am confident that I will graduate with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and advanced math and science coursework needed in order to excel in college and ultimately enjoy a stimulating engineering career.
Faith
The Jewish expression Tikkun Olam “repairing the world” has been integrated into who I am through my religious upbringing. In 5th grade I learned about the genocide in Darfur and linked it to the holocaust. While preparing for my Bar Mitzvah, my rabbi put me in touch with Jewish World Watch, a non-profit that works to end genocide. I have coordinated a Backpack Project for refugee children in Chad and am coordinating my 5th Walk to End Genocide. I have mobilized my religious and secular communities and raised $100,000. I attended a L’Taken Social Justice Seminar and spoke on Capitol Hill about human rights. Locally, I was a religious school teacher’s assistant for three years, chanted torah for High Holy Days, and have been an active member of a Jewish teen group for four years.
Community Service
As a young boy, I volunteered at homeless shelters and creek clean ups. I enjoyed the heartwarming feeling that I experienced and consider myself a community service leader. I organized a successful hygiene item drive for Valley of the Moon Children’s Center and personally purchased an air hockey/pool table for the abused and battered boys living at the center. I volunteered at Kid Science Camp for two weeks each summer for four years. I volunteered at Camp Jones Gulch the last three summers as a Leader in Training, a Counselor in Training, and a Junior Counselor. I also went on a humanitarian trip to Rwanda. We raised $20,000 for school scholarships, brought 1,000 pounds of supplies, and I taught math to students at two schools. Making a difference makes the world a better place.
