Scholar Athlete: Tristan Pepper, Warren High School

SAN ANTONIOWhat are you most excited about for your senior year and why?

I am very excited about both, the academic and athletic aspects, of my senior year. I am very close with many of my teachers, and I want to do all that I can to reward their hard work, by doing well in their classes and on the AP exams I take in order to reflect well on their teaching and on myself as a student.

Likewise, even though the soccer season has now come to a close, I enjoyed every moment of it and my team was able to pull off another year of making the playoffs. 

What drives you to be successful in the classroom and in your particular sport?

I am predominantly self-driven. I have a desire to be the best in everything I do, but another major source of motivation I draw on is derived from my family and my teachers.

I seek to do all that I can to live up to my own expectations of myself, but also to represent my teachers, family and community with pride. That may be on the field or in the classroom.

What advice would you give other student athletes on how to succeed on the field, in the classroom and remain close to family?

It is extremely difficult to maintain a balance between the classroom, one's sport or sports, and spending time with family. 

I would advise other athletes and up and coming student athletes to evaluate their goals and determine where they see themselves in the future. 

As a student athlete, you must accept where you are and accept the responsibility that only you can take yourself where you want to go. One does not have to train and study all the time and, in fact, family time and downtime can help to alleviate stress and recharge one's batteries in a sense.

So my advice would be to pour 80 percent of your efforts into your studies and athletics, but leave that remaining 20 percent for family and fun. That is my take on it. 

What do you like best about the high school you attend?

There are many characteristics of my school that I love, such as my teachers, my general appreciation for the opportunity of an education, and the relationships I have made during my four years at Warren.

That being said, my favorite characteristic about my school is our school motto, "All Means All," which is a saying around school started by our awesome principal Mrs. Sisk, which in essence means that no student will be left behind and that the school is here to serve every student and help them achieve success. It shows that our teachers and administrators truly do care about the students.

Where do you want to attend college, major in and why?

I was presented the amazing opportunity to become a member of the Top Scholar program here at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). I plan to major in biomedical engineering and perhaps double major, with a second major in chemical engineering. 

I want to be an engineer because I have a passion for mathematics and science and I want to apply it in a way that can be beneficial for society. I seek to solve the world's greatest problems and what better way is there to do that than through engineering. I have many ideas that I believe could benefit the world. 

I want to be a Top Scholar because through such a prestigious program I will learn to be a better leader, become more active in my community, succeed greatly in the classroom, and I will be ideally situated to springboard into phenomenal graduate school programs, such as those at universities like MIT and Caltech.
 
If you could have one superhero power, what would it be and why?

Given a superhero power of choice, I would chose super-intelligence. With the power of super-intelligence, one could devise a way to give themselves any other power they want. Likewise, super-intelligence quite literally would allow me to do anything I so desired and I would use that gift to peruse my mission of making the world a better place. I could fix global warming, pollution, develop more efficient methods of space travel, bridge our understanding of macro and quantum mechanics and much more. 

If you could take any athlete or celebrity to your senior prom, who would it be and why?

If I could take any athlete or celebrity to my senior prom, I would take an athlete from my own high school, Bianca Rodriguez. She is an amazing volleyball player and she is one of the most genuine individuals I have ever met. I would take her because she is one of the closest people to me in my life and I truly love spending time with her.