| Congratulations to Patrick Shukis for being named the 2024 recipient of the SAGE GT Senior Scholarship! Patrick attended Grapevine High School and was a standout in the classroom and in the community. He will be attending Rice University in the fall, where he will pursue a major in Sport Analytics. |
Grapevine-Colleyville Supporting and Advocating for Gifted Education (SAGE) is pleased to announce the 2024 recipient of the SAGE Senior Scholarship for $1,000.
In addition to his strong academic successes, Patrick has spent his last four years pursuing the arts, athletics, and serving in the community.
He’s won awards in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) and the Varsity Tennis Team, and is the Founder, President, Varsity Captain of the Quiz Bowl team at Grapevine High School.
Other leadership and volunteer roles include ASPIRE Student Advisory Council, Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, PEACE Together, Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, City of Southlake Tennis Center, Congregation Beth Israel, and Grapevine-Colleyville SAGE.
Excerpt form his Essay
“What should I do with this?” I wondered as I spun the freshly laminated cardstock in my hand, wondering what possible orientation could come of the geometric conundrum before me. Whether it was the sparkling eye or its upside-down adversary, the blooming flower, I couldn’t tell, and the 12-pointed star looked the same from every direction which was no help to my case. “Is it even a flag?” I then thought, surmising that my mother had snuck an illegitimate image into the flashcard banner pile, assuming—correctly—that I wouldn’t know the difference. Just as I seemed to conceive this conclusion, we had arrived at the front entrance to my preschool, where I realized that my fun with flags would need to wait for the drive home. Even still, my simultaneous admirations and consternations about the flag of Nepal teased my brain of its gifted abilities, exposing me to my love for learning that continues to this day. Throughout pre-school, I always felt akin to the flag of Nepal—just a little bit different than all of my classmates, jutting out in places where they had smooth edges. While my peers often thought inside the box of a traditional flag, the somehow-always-greasy cogs of my brain ground constantly as I hinged upon imagination, inventing new people and places whenever I lacked real knowledge to draw from in my daydreams.