Grapevine-Colleyville Supporting and Advocating for Gifted Education (SAGE) is pleased to announce the 2018 recipient of the SAGE Senior Scholarship for $1,000.

Drew DeHaven of Colleyville, class of 2018 of Grapevine High School, will receive $1,000 from SAGE as he enrolls in Texas A&M University at College Station to study Electrical Engineering in the honors program. Drew is the son of Nancy and Dwayne DeHaven.

Drew attended Colleyville Elementary and Colleyville Middle. At Grapevine High, Drew is an active and accomplished debater and scored 10th out of more than 500 in Texas UIL Congressional Debate in 2018 and 2017, and served as key organizer of the Grapevine Classic Debate Tournament, which is the 2nd largest debate tournament in the state. Drew was team captain for the GHS UIL Current Events and Social Studies teams, and he competed on teams for math modeling and scientific research and development. He was in National Honor Society and the National Math and Spanish Honor Societies. He also competed in GHS Cross Country and Track and served as junior varsity team captain. Drew was a GHS Ambassador for four years.

Outside school, Drew volunteered at the Tarrant Area Food Bank, worked at Chick-Fil-A during the summer, and worked as a summer research assistant at UT Arlington, studying the effects of groundwater infiltration on buildings.

SAGE asked scholarship applicants to write an essay: “Gifted students have a wide variety of talents, skills and characteristics that make them gifted. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to gifted learners. In about 500 words, describe what you believe to be your gifted traits, how you discovered and nurtured your giftedness, and how this has shaped your plans for post-high school life.”

Drew’s essay is as follows:

“I love the unknown. Well, that is not entirely true. More accurately, I love figuring out new things that shed light on the unknown, but the unknown actually frustrates me a lot. Yet it is the unknown that drives me to learn and discover, so I feel indebted to love it. To me, nothing is more amazing than that moment when you not only see how something works but also you learn why it works — how it is and why it is. Because of my fascination with the unknown, science has always captivated me since its core is to describe the how’s and why’s of nature as accurately as possible. From staying up late in elementary school to watch Discovery channel documentaries to enrolling in top level beyond-AP classes, I have taken my desire and run with it as far as I can. I have discovered, however, that the more you know, the more you realize how little you actually know. While it’s frustrating to realize there’s so many things I don’t know, it’s also very exciting at the same time. It is exciting to think about how there’s still so much material I can delve into and expand my knowledge. It is a dream come true to be able to pursue my desires through higher education.

“Growing up, it took me awhile to find my voice to speak up for what I was passionate for, literally. From an early age I had trouble speaking and my parents had to enroll me in speech pathology courses. Every week I was pulled out of class to work with the school pathologist and I was very self conscious of my speech impediment as I couldn’t even pronounce my own name correctly. However over years of work I was finally able to use my voice without fear. Today as a result of my hard work, my voice has carried me from the State Debate tournament to the National Young Entrepreneur Competition.

“I am driven and dedicated. I have spent countless hours studying to climb to the top of my class and to receive perfect scores on all of my AP tests. I have also been involved in many other developmental activities such as Debate, which has allowed me to better stand up for myself and communicate my ideas; Cross Country, which instilled in me an attitude of improving myself every day; and employment at Chick-fil-a, which taught me the most important key to success is remembering other’s needs as well as your own. My high ACT and SAT scores are also a product of my driven work ethic. I believe my work ethic will carry me to success in college and into the rest of my life as well. My ultimate goal is to receive the best possible education I can in order to prepare for a job where I can fulfill my desire for innovation and discovery. I hope to find a career that requires continual learning and challenges me to find new solutions to overcome the unsolved problems in our world.”

SAGE’s mission is to ensure gifted children in the Grapevine/Colleyville area reach their fullest potential by advocating on their behalf; connecting parents to valuable resources and to each other; and by educating and supporting their teachers and administrators. Learn more about SAGE at http://gc-sage.org or social media @GCSAGE. For further information, contact SAGE President Kim Farbisz, info.gcsage@gmail.com.