Every college-bound high school senior has aspirations of getting accepted to the college of his dreams, and when the dream becomes a reality, it takes a little getting used to.
Luther Banner, a senior at Hazelwood Central High School, is on the verge of experiencing his dream of attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In mid-December, the school released its early action decision list online. A few days after seeing his name on the list, he got a shiny, silver cylindrical package from MIT containing a formal acceptance letter, confetti, balloons, stickers and information about the school. The package arrived just before Christmas.
“It’s pretty surreal for me. It hasn’t settled in that I’ve been accepted to MIT,” said Banner. He said that only 11 percent of students are accepted for early action.
“It’s still shocking. It’s my dream school,” he said.
Banner plans to accept the offer from MIT to study mechanical engineering. He said MIT will offer him a scholarship, but he is researching other scholarship opportunities to attend school. He was also accepted to Georgia Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
“My grandmother and mom are really excited. They pretty much told me that they knew I was going to get in, but I was worried about it,” he said.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure I’d get accepted. It’s a highly competitive school to get into. I was thinking about the other kids that I’d be up against for admission.”
Banner is a notable student, taking five advanced placement (AP) classes this year – calculus, senior English, government, Spanish IV and physics. He is a co-captain of the RoboHawks robotics team, and last spring, he was nominated and received the FIRST Dean’s List Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition St. Louis Regional. FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – is a “thrilling and unique spectator sport experience in which teams of high school students solve an engineering design challenge through imagination, dedication, teamwork and the help of their robotic friends.” The RoboHawks won the event and qualified to participate in the FIRST Championship, which took place in St. Louis.
During the championship competition, Banner was named to the FIRST Dean’s List, an honor recognizing 10 students from the United States and abroad for their leadership and dedication to FIRST. Of the 10 selected, only two were juniors – Banner and a student from Rhode Island. Winners received a long list of prizes, including a BlackBerry Playbook tablet, a BlackBerry Torch mobile phone, a Nike book bag with a shirt and hat, gift cards to JC Penney and Starbucks, a Kindle e-reader, a flip camera, software and a trip to New Hampshire to the FIRST headquarters.
Being named as a Top 10 student involved in robotics certainly didn’t hurt his chances of realizing his dream. “It helped,” he said.
“MIT was always the school in the back of my head. I knew it was tough to get in. I didn’t view it as a reality at first, but I decided to apply at the end of my junior year,” he revealed.
Banner went to New Hampshire in August, during the first week of school in HSD. While there, the students toured MIT, but at this point, he had no idea what his future would hold.
Fast forward to the present and Banner seems quietly humbled, yet excited, about what’s to come. The robotics team is preparing for the competition season and plans to participate in events in Kansas City and St. Louis. The team is working toward earning the prestigious Chairman’s Award, presented to the team that best represents a model for other teams to follow and embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST.
Banner said the team is trying to enhance the awareness of FIRST and be an “inspiration to the community and the District.”
When he goes to college, he said he will “miss everything” about robotics.
“I plan to find a team to help mentor. It’s an environment and an atmosphere that you can’t get away from,” he said. “I’ll miss being on a team. To see that you built something that great with your own hands is exhilarating.”
Banner gives credit to “every teacher I’ve had who pushed me to work as hard as I can” in getting him to where he is today.
He gives thanks to Catherine Sylve, a former teacher at HCHS and RoboHawks sponsor, for “making” him get involved in robotics. Sylve continues to be actively involved with the team. He gives thanks to retired Spanish teacher Carol Villalobos for encouraging him to apply to MIT.
He is grateful to his family for “believing in me and for all that they give up to support me.”
“My family has always said ‘Strive to be the best. If not, why do it?’”
“I try to live by that in everything I do,” said Banner.