Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I am currently enrolled in 12th grade at Emmaus High School.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. Ever since I was young, my favorite subject has always been math. I like math because it is the basis on which everything falls, as you can understand and explain how different phenomenon work simply by using numbers and variables. Unlike science, the answer to why math works a certain way is never “because it does,” but rather everything within the subject has a clear reason backing it up.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. This year I was named the Lehigh Valley Boys Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year, selected for excellence in academics, athletics and community service. This award was very meaningful because out of all the worthy candidates from the 44 schools in the Lehigh Valley, the committee selected me as the winner, making me Emmaus’s first winner of this award since 2003. I was also awarded as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Boys Soccer Scholar Athlete, as well as 1st Team All-EPC and 1st Team All-Conference for soccer this year. My junior year, I was named 1st Team All-EPC, 1st Team All-Area and 1st Team All-State for volleyball. I am also a National Merit Commended Scholar and a National Hispanic Scholar due to my success on the PSAT/NMSQT test.

Q. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities?

A. This year, I was captain of the EHS varsity soccer and varsity volleyball teams and was captain of each of my club teams for these sports as well. I am an officer in our school’s student athlete leadership team and I am one of Emmaus’s four representatives in the EPC Student Athlete Character Council. Additionally, I am involved in our school’s music programs as a singer in EHS Chorale, Select Choir and Fermata Nowhere (an a cappella group). At Emmaus, I am also a part of PALS, a group that hosts social events for special needs students at the high school, as well as the Pediatric Cancer Club, the EHS Varsity Debate Team and the tutor program. In the community, I am an altar server at St. Thomas More Church and have volunteered at Camelot for Children and the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. After high school, I will be attending New York University where I will be studying economics and finance at the Stern School of Business while playing on the school’s varsity mens volleyball team. After college I plan to pursue a career in either corporate finance, consulting or investment banking.

Q. What do you consider your biggest challenge to date?

A. My biggest challenge to date was getting cut from the basketball team my freshman year. Despite this letdown, I was able to get around the obstacle by getting involved in different clubs and competing in the Emmaus Scrubs Basketball League and Catholic Youth Organization basketball league for St. Thomas More. After growing a foot since my freshman year, I won the Scrubs League’s Dunk of the Year my junior and senior years and MVP my senior year. In the end, I am proud of the way I handled the situation and am glad to have had the opportunities that came out of not making the team.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. After I graduate high school, I would like to be remembered by my classmates and teachers as a well-rounded, ambitious student who strives to excel in everything I do. At the same time, I want to be remembered as a kind person who cares about others and his community. I hope that my actions throughout my four years have set a good example for my peers and that I have served as a good role model to the younger students and athletes in our community.

Q. Who is in your family?

A. I am one of four children of my parents Robert and Eileen Haag. My siblings’ names are Elena, Amanda and Robby.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. The people I admire most are my grandparents, due to their inspiring stories of their escapes to freedom from a tyrannical Cuba. Their suffering inspires me to not take my liberty for granted and I am devoted to working hard and making the most of all my opportunities so my ancestors’ sacrifices were not made in vain.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My greatest piece of advice for my peers is to get involved in anything and everything they are interested in and to make the most of the opportunities they receive. I also believe people see failure as a bad thing and would advise my peers to take failure as an opportunity to grow as a person. If we all learn from our mistakes and use them to better ourselves, we will constantly be making the world a better place.