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Clyde Carver is an Austin High School senior who will graduate from AHS and Riverland Community College with an associate arts degree in the spring at age 16, thanks to grade acceleration.

Academic Achievements:

Through grade acceleration, to enrolling as a PSEO student, academia is a field where I am constantly setting and reaching goals. A few achievements that I am particularly proud of include the ACCESS Scholarship Award, enrolling in the UMTYMP program, silver academic award from the Austin Packer Cross Country team, and being elected a DECA officer. I also enjoyed qualifying for and performing at the state level for Voice of Democracy in 2011.

Activities (music, sports, community):

Musically, band has always been a major focus of mine. I played a variety of reed instruments for five years of my life, eventually playing at the Big 9 select. The instruments I focused on the most have been the clarinet and the alto saxophone. I also dabbled with a variety of sports during my younger years, eventually finding the sports that I really enjoy — cross country, swimming, and tennis. I am currently a varsity cross-country runner and a captain in both swimming and tennis. My best channels to being involved with the community often are through clubs at school. I’ve done a large amount of volunteer work through the AHS Student Union. I have also been a volunteer tutor at Neveln in past years.  I also try to get involved in small opportunities that arrive seasonally in the community. A good example of something I plan to do this year is helping distribute food at the Salvation Army for Thanksgiving.

Potential College Plans:

As a PSEO student, I am on track to earn both my high school diploma and my Associate of Arts degree at Riverland Community College at the end of this year. From there, I plan on studying Management of Information Systems at universities both in and out of state. Some of these include University of Texas-Austin, University of Washington-Seattle, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Ideally, I should be able to apply and transfer with my degree from Riverland to these colleges to get an academic head start at those institutions. I am still debating on which of these three colleges I am going to attend.

A person who has had a positive impact in your academic or school life:

A role model of mine who has had positive influence on my academic life would be my step-father, Aaron. A few years ago, he made the decision to return to college and seek a degree in IT Project Management from Concordia-Twin Cities on what seemed like a complete whim. He already had a stable job at the local business firm IBI Data. Apparently he was driven to reinvent himself. My family watched and supported him as he spent countless nights toiling with part-online and part on-campus classes as he eventually got his degree. He is now a Project Manager at Target Corporation in Minneapolis. This showed me that it is possible to reinvent yourself at any given point in your life, and through hard work and determination, even the most difficult goals are within reach. This also opened my eyes to the powerful Information Technology industry there is in this nation.

Plans for the future:

Hopefully, after I earn a bachelor’s degree in MIS (Management of Information Systems), I will eventually find a job in the field. A few careers that have to do with MIS include becoming a Computer Systems Analyst or an Information Systems Manager. These careers have to do with making sure different IT systems at businesses are working efficiently and smoothly. I also hope to study abroad at some point and perhaps live in Chile for a while. I have many connections with Chile, as my grandparents and many other members of my family live there. I also hope to continue my volunteer work and perhaps become a board member of a charity at some point.