This graduate pocketed an associates of arts degree from Riverland Community College in addition to his high school diploma to come June 5 at Austin High School’s commencement.

He will be working commencement night and have to skip the post-graduation party.

He missed being declared a High Distinction student by a couple-hundredths of a grade point. The minimum grade point average is 3.9; Register’s was 3.89.

Register actually recorded a couple of “Bs” during four years of high school.

No summer off for him. He plans to spend two years doing mission work for the Church of Jesus Christ — Latter Day Saints.

Ten years from now, he hopes to be raising a family and spending time with friends in a life “not all about work,” he said.

Meet one member of the class of 2009, John Register.

His favorite movie is “Tommy Boy,” and he enjoys reading Stephen King books.

He enjoys working out and playing sports. His favorite is tennis.

Register, 18, is an ordinary teen with extraordinary accomplishments to his credit.

Every young man and woman who earns a high school diploma has accomplished something in life.

Graduates such as Register have accomplished more.

He is the son of Sue Register and the grandson of John and Norma Register.

He is the sixth “John Register” in his family.

As a child, he attended Southgate and Sumner elementary schools in Austin.

“Elementary school was fun,” he said. “I enjoyed it. I had some great teachers who helped me out along the way.”

“I learned a lot, and it jump-started me for the rest of my schooling,” he said.

When he was in the third grade, Register entered his first science fair. His project was not a volcano with vinegar and baking soda. His sought to determine which mulch would raise temperatures the highest for early germination.

The boy and his mother live outside the Austin city limits near John and Norma Register. Among the things the two families held in common was gardening: flowers and vegetables.

“Grandpa and Mom loved to do the gardening, when I was growing up,” he said.

When he advanced to Ellis Middle School, his education flourished. Stephen Weisgram was a favorite teacher and woods and plastics were favorite courses.

By the seventh grade Register launched a science project with which his name became synonymous: Using Bacilus Subtillus To Control Septoria On Solarum Lycopersicum.

Suffice to day, it had to do with growing tomatoes. Register returned to science fairs with the same project except for the year he worked on an Eagle Scout project and until the Austin science fair was abandoned by the school district.

He spent his junior and senior years of high school as a post secondary options student at Riverland and juggled duties as the lieutenant-governor for the Key Club’s Upper Midwest three-state area.

Register has succeeded at everything he has tried in his life.

He earned the Minnesota FFA State degree and the Star Farmer award in agri-science as a junior.

This year, as a senior, Register won the National FFA Agri-Science Fair highest honor.

He was 7 years old, when he became a Tiger Cub in Cub Scouting of America.He proceeded through the ranks of Cub Scouting into Boy Scouting of America until he reached the mandatory retirement age last fall when he turned 18.

As a member of BSA Troop No. 122 in Austin, he earned Boy Scouting’s pinnacle: Eagle Scout honors in 2002.

His project took place at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center, where he led a team of volunteers who repaired and restored five hiking shelters and repaired part of the Covered Bridge.

“Earning the Eagle Scout award was one of my goals in life,” he said.

He was only 12 years old at the time he earned BSA’s highest honor; a feat unduplicated.

To date, Register has earned 122 merit badges; the maximum BSA has to offer scouts.

He has also earned 20 Eagle Palm awards. To receive the honors, scouts have to have earned the Eagle honor by the time they are 12.

State science fair

Register is the first Minnesota student to earn four consecutive gold honors at the state science fair. Only the top 5 percent of students in the state achieve that pinnacle.

The May 15-15 International Science Fair held at Reno, Nev., was the last for his personal favorite project on germination.

He also earned a first-place “special” award from the American Horticulture Society.

“My research will be on pause for now, because I won’t have time while I’m on my mission project,” he said.

Register credited his mother and his grandparents with being big influences in his life. He also praised the influence of Bishop Mark White and his wife, Carolyn, from the Austin LDS church as well as friends from a church youth group.

Register’s sticktuitiveness has paid off handsomely, but he knows it took hard work, too.

“It’s great to find the answers to questions, but at the same time it was a lot of work,” he said of the trophies, plaques and certificates of accomplishment he has received. “Some of the things I was required to do were just so time-consuming.”

Playing second singles and captaining the AHS boys tennis team was a fitting role for Register in his senior year; especially considering how he spent so much time away from AHS, while attending Riverland full-time.

He has his own lawn care business and works a shift at the Harvest Buffet restaurant at Holiday Inn of Austin.

Failure? He hasn’t become acquainted with it yet in life.

All that could change after high school graduation when he enters the “real” world.

Get ready, John Register and other high school graduates: Inquiring minds will want to know “What do you plan to do after graduation?”

“I have no idea,” he said. “A lot of things appeal to me right now.”

“I don’t want to decide too soon; especially after the classes I took at Riverland these last two years,” he said.

“A lot of things opened up that weren’t there before,” he said. “I figured when I got to college, that it would close some doors, but it only made choosing worse. There were more choices than I expected.”

And taking two years off — if that is the word — to undertake an LDS mission project opens up another possibility.

“It’s an opportunity to show my devotion to the Savior,” he said. “The scriptures tell us we need to pay 10 percent of our wealth, but I’d like to think I’ve already had 18 years of my life that have certainly been amazing.”

“I can give two years to others,” he said.