By Kelsie Teves

[email protected]

Senior Stephen Mau has been selected as one of 560 semifinalists in the nation who are eligible to become a United States Presidential Scholar. Of the 560, 121 high school seniors will have the opportunity to go on an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to meet the president because of their outstanding SAT and ACT scores.

“This is a great testament to the hard work our teachers and students have done. Especially for a public school student, being recognized shows the strength in our academic curriculum, faculty and students here at MHS,” expressed College and Career counselor Denise Yamamoto who helped Mau organize his candidacy portfolio.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Mau who scored just under a 2300 on the SAT, stated, “Well it’s an honor of course, but I was kind of surprised. I’m sure it is a great experience to be part of the 150 or top 200 students in the nation getting recognized for all the things that you did in school.”

To become one of those chosen from Hawaii to attend the luncheon, Mau’s candidacy materials, which consisted of self-assessments, essays, transcripts and recommendations, will be reviewed by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars this month, determining the 20 males and females who will be picked from each state throughout the nation. “Well with something like this, I think it would be a pretty proud moment especially for our school and as a whole it’s a pretty prestigious award I think. So the fact that he got this far in the process too I think says a lot about his preparation and himself of course,” said Science teacher and First Robotics adviser Tyson Kikugawa, who has known Mau since his sophomore year.

In order to achieve this recognition, Mau had involved himself in robotics as well as mathematics and science competitions to practice his interests in numbers that he helped him motivate and better himself. “He has, as most people know, this natural gift with math, it seems like just anything about math he jumps on. At the same time its something he’s always constantly practicing, anything with numbers, during robotics especially, anything that deals with numbers his ears perk up and he just wants to jump up and work with it. So I think his constant practice and working hard and always staying on task, together collectively has helped get him where he is right now,” stated Kikugawa.

This is not the first time a MHS student has been offered to be a possible Presidential Scholar. In 2009, alumni Lucia Mocz and Daniel Lee were acknowledged for their academic success.  And in 2010, Cyrus Takahashi and Arielle Uejo were awarded as well. “It would be a great recognition for the school for us to be recognized (again). This would be a pretty big accomplishment; it would be nice to show that we have some of the best students in the nation,” expressed Mau.

If Mau is chosen, he will bring Kikugawa with him, since if selected, the student’s most influential teacher is also offered to attend the recognition event as well. “I felt a little honored and respected. It was nice. He has had a lot of great teachers here,” expressed Kikugawa.

After he graduates this May, Mau plans to study electrical engineering at University of Hawaii at Manoa.