Stevens, Fergus

Submitted: 11/21/2015

Profile
Personal Information
Name

Stevens, Fergus Dean

Preferred Name

Gus

Sex, Birthdate

Male, 09/19/1997

Contact Details
Email, Phone
Permanent
Address

Demographics
Military Status

None

Hispanic or Latino

No

Race

White (Europe)

Language
English

First Language

Geography & Citizenship

Citizenship Status

U.S. Citizen or U.S. National

Birthplace

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America (18 Years US, 0 Years Non-US)

CA Fee Waiver
Fee Waiver
Requested

No

CA Stevens, Fergus CEEB: Fall 2016

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Education
Current or Most Recent School
Acadamy for Math Engineering and Science,
Charter (08/2012 - 06/04/2016)
Counselor

Ms. Kari Gardner, School Couselor

Email, Phone
Interruption

I have no interruption to report

Other Colleges & Universities

Grades
Rank

1 / 123, Weighted

GPA

4.0 / 4, Unweighted

Current or Most Recent Year Courses

First Semester

Second Semester

Physics - (H)

Physics - (H)

U.S. Government - (AP)

U.S. Government - (AP)

Environmental Science

Environmental Science

English Literature - (AP)

English Literature - (AP)

Calculus AB - (AP)

Calculus AB - (AP)

Spanish Peer Tutor

Spanish Peer Tutor

Honors
Academic Achivement Language Arts 9

School

Excellence In Studio Art

School

11

Academic Achievement In
Chemistry

School

11

Academic Achievement in
University of Utah Writing

School

11

Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership International

certificate of leadership
potential

10

Future Plans
Business executive (management, administrator), Business

CA Stevens, Fergus CEEB: Fall 2016

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Testing
ACT
Composite

27

10/24/2015

English

27

03/03/2015

Math

28

03/03/2015

Reading

29

10/24/2015

Science

30

03/03/2015

Writing

29

10/12/2015

Taken

Planned

ACT Plus Writing

Test

Yes

AP Subject Tests
Human Geography

05/2013

United States
History

05/2015

Government &
Politics: United
States
European History

05/2016

05/2014

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Activities
Athletics: JV/Varsity
9, 10, 11, 12

Tennis, Cottonwood high school tennis team

School

Lead the team to region title as team captain. Lead entire varsity team to state.
Lettered and honored for academic and athletics.

13 hr/wk, 27 wk/yr

Athletics: JV/Varsity
9, 10, 11, 12

Golf, Cottonwood High School boys golf team postion 10-5

School

I participated on the team and competed in varsity and region tournaments. I

lettered and was awarded for athletic and academic participation.

20 hr/wk, 27 wk/yr

Student Govt./Politics
11

AMES student council

School

As a council member I planned dances and the AMES service projects, and
designed the Council T-shirt. I also reached out to new students.

2 hr/wk, 34 wk/yr

Other Club/Activity
10

Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership

Break

local representative. National representative at HOBY World Congress in

Chicago. Learned about leadership.

42 hr/wk, 2 wk/yr

Debate/Speech
11

Cottonwood High School Debate Team

School

4th place national - extemp in region. Top scoring exempt speaker at

Cottonwood.

10 hr/wk, 18 wk/yr

Career Oriented
11

Internship at One World Gifts and Gallery

School

I interned for a small business and learned from the owner and my personal
mentor. I learned how to manage and start a small business.

3 hr/wk, 18 wk/yr

Robotics

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11

AMES robotics team

School

Co-Designed the robotics T-shirt, and contributed to the AMES robotics safety
video.

5 hr/wk, 25 wk/yr

Community Service (Volunteer)

12

Tutor for USTA Tennis and Tutoring program

School

I tutored K-6th grade kids. I tutored a group of kids while another group played
tennis, and the children would rotate between activities.

4 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr

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Writing
Personal Essay
The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when
you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
When Words Failed Me
I have had more failures than there are words allowed for this essay. However, a critical failure that I distinctly
remember occurred in the second grade. I was a young and growing boy in second grade, I learned through
observation, and confirmed my observations through trial. However, what I did in second grade was disgraceful
past childish development. For a classroom "get-to-know you" activity we were instructed to share something
about ourselves with a partner. Ms. Schelly partnered me with a very nice young girl. My partner wore a white
shirt, pink overalls and a matching bow in her curly hair. To maintain order within the bustling room of young
children our teacher directed us to take turns sharing personal facts. My partner looked at me with her dark eyes
and posed the question of who should go first. My response: "Well, you have to go last because you're black." I
didn't know what I was saying at the moment, but now I know that it was utterly shameful. There is no excuse for
what I said on that day. It was a complete social blunder, a massive failure that resulted from my inability to filter
my actions. Looking back on the event I predict that the media effected my perception of reality and fiction. I think
the disrespectful social habits on TV shows like The Sweet Life of Zach and Cody, coupled with my poor
understanding of racism lead me to believe that my crude comment would be acceptable and possibly even funny.
It definitely wasn't either. The innocence of my younger self and my modern analyses of the cause doesn't make
my remark any more justifiable, because either way what I said made my partner cry.
My fellow classmate ran away from me with tears flooding from her eyes. I immediately felt awful, my heart
dropped to my shoes, I wanted to rid myself from society, and later when Ms. Shelly AND my mother confronted
me about my statement I really wanted to restart the day. I wanted my statement back because I failed to think. I
didn't think about the potential impact of my statement, I just thought that it would be a funny "in the moment" thing
to say. Clearly it wasn't. After seeing how my statement harmed my third grade partner I realized the mistake in my
comment. However, that was not the only lesson that I learned on that day.
I said what I did because I didn't think before I acted. I can honestly recount that I said what I did because I
thought it would be funny, and that maybe the remark would gain me popularity in the eyes of my friends. I threw
aside someone else's culture and individuality so that I could say something for selfish reasons. My failure in third
grade resulted from my inability to think before I acted. That failure is what made someone cry. I made someone
cry. On that day I learned to think about the impact of my words, before I spoke. Contrary to the song that claims
words can never hurt you, I learned firsthand that they actually can. From the moment that the first tear swelled in
Lily's eye I was scarred with the importance of thinking before speaking, and thinking before acting.

Additional Information
My real name is Fergus, but I have gone by Gus my entire life. This is just a clarification issue which often
confuses even me. I have begun to file official documents under my legal name, however, in the past, when I
treated Gus as my official name, this was not the case. As I enter into adulthood I have to start using my legal
name more often, but there are still documents that I have recorded under my nickname. For example I took the
the AMC math test under my shortened name, and even recently as a junior I registered at the University of Utah
under the unofficial name. I have rectified most of the glaring problems with my wanton use of my nickname,
however, there may still be some documentation issues.

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Discipline & School Interruption

Education Interruption
I have no interruption to report
Have you ever been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any educational institution you have
attended from the 9th grade (or the international equivalent) forward, whether related to academic
misconduct or behavioral misconduct, that resulted in a disciplinary action?
No
Have you ever been adjudicated guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other crime?
No

CA Stevens, Fergus CEEB: Fall 2016

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Stanford University Member Page

General
Entry Term

Preferred: Fall 2016

Decision Plan

Regular Decision

Do you intend to
N/A
use one of these
school-specific fee
waivers?
Do you intend to
Yes
pursue need-based
financial aid?
Do you intend to
submit an arts
portfolio to
Stanford?

Yes

Academics
First Academic
Interest

Chemistry

Second Academic
Interest

Biology

Third Academic
Interest

Management Science and Engineering

Activities
Extracurricular activities or work experiences
I play Tennis for Cottonwood. I played number one singles and captained the team, the teams greatest
accomplishment was placing first in our region and sending everyone to the state tournament. I have played
varsity for the entirety of my high school career, and I have lettered all those years.

Contacts
Previously applied

No

Family
Siblings applying

No

Have any relatives

ever attended
Stanford
University?

No

CA Stevens, Fergus CEEB: Fall 2016

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Have any relatives

ever worked for
Stanford
University?

No

Short Questions
Favorite books, authors, films, and/or artists
Books: Crime and Punishment, Into Thin Air, Holes, The Stand, Touching Spirit Bear.
Authors: Stephen King, Lois Lowry, Markus Zusak, Ben Mikaelsen
Films: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hot Rod, Momento, Moonrise Kingdom, The Usual Suspects.
Artists: Hayao Miyazaki, Roy Lichtenstein, Joseph Beuys, Gerhrard Richter
Newspapers, magazines, websites
Magazines: Golf Magazine, National Geographic.
Newspaper: I don't read tangible newspapers, but I do get news from HTC's BlinkFeed and the application
Flipboard.
Websites: Reuters, deviantART, Solve For X, YouTube, Apple.
Most significant challenge society faces
The biggest challenge we face is how to overcome materialism. Materialism, in my opinion, is a harmful mindset
which depletes the worlds resources and leads to a skewed distribution of wealth. I think that if society can
overcome materialistic values than individuals across the globe will prosper.
Last two summers
Last summer: Six week summer chemistry program at the University of Utah. The official course was Chem 1060.
After chemistry, a two week bike trip through Austria and Germany
Two summers ago: Utah State tennis camp, HOBY World Leadership Congress in Chicago, trip to Washington
D.C.
Favorite events
HOBY in Chicago, there were amazing people, and it was in an amazing city. The Bacon, Warhol, Richter and the
Drawing Now exhibit in the Albertina in Vienna, Austria. Region tennis championship match. Region debate
tournament for Cottonwood. Utah Senate Youth scholarship competition. Last years State Math competition at
BYU.
Historical moment or event
If I could travel back in time I would elect to witness the creation of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. I would choose to
watch this amazing proccess because the amount of labor and work needed to build the pyramid would be truly
mind blowing.
What five words best describe you?
Creative. Nerdy. Active. Social. Considerate.

Short Essays
Idea or experience important to intellectual development
A recent development of mine occurred in the beginning of my senior year. My experience implanted the idea of

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learning for learning instead of learning for a test. The experience that changed my learning perspective was a
recent high school development, however, I think it will impact my learning and overall success in college.
In the beginning of my senior year I had to drop a Spanish class due to unpreparedness for the concurrent
enrollment course. Because I dropped the class I acquired a free period at the end of the day. I didn't need
another class to fulfill graduation requirements, so I could have easily left my schedule open to go home early.
However, I enjoy the Spanish language and I want to take it in college, so I choose to peer tutor a Spanish class
for the sake of listening to the language.
I am a peer tutor for Spanish 3, a class that I already took to fulfill requirements, however, this year I am
participating in the class for a different reason. I am taking the class to learn for the sake of learning, I don't need
to pass the class to graduate high school, but I am choosing to pay attention because I want to learn and be
familiar with the language for the future. Since I have chosen to take a class for learning, my academic mindset
has shifted to embrace learning for the purpose of gaining knowledge.
Note to future roommate
Hey Roomie,
My name is Gus, I am from Salt Lake City, Utah, I am not Mormon and I only have one mom. As a Stanford
student I am sure that you are more open minded than that, but I figured I should get that out of the way first. I play
golf and tennis, and I am fairly good at the two, however, if I had the option to I would choose to stay at home and
mess around in Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator, watch TV, or play video games. I'm a pretty creative person,
as I mentioned earlier I indulge my creativity on digital platforms, so I am on my computer... a lot. But don't worry
because I am productive. I won't waste my life away on funny cat videos, although there are times where my
habits fail and I succumb to the offerings of YouTube and Steam. So far I've basically described myself as a
vampire, but I do enjoy the sports and the outdoors and I'm also very social. I have developed the skill of being
able to talk to anyone, so take me to your social events and invite your friends over and I'll be chill. I personally
identify myself as a nerd so when I invite friends over we will most likely play Settlers of Catan all day, but I can
teach you how to play. I also like longboarding, so if you have one we could cruise the campus together.
What matters to you, and why?
The ability to express yourself is what is important to me. I think that having a means of self-expression is crucial
to a healthy existence. The means expression is irrelevant, but I believe that having some way to portray your
inner self is important.
I express myself through art. I'm not a Picasso or Michelangelo but I don't need to be good at art to appreciate the
freedom that the medium allows. Art allows me to free my mind and feel, well, an unexplainable feeling. When I
immerse myself in art I feel weightless, invincible and the pleasant scents of my past saturate my nostrils. My
visions vignettes and my entire psyche migrates to my head. I loose sensitivity in my limbs and I feel as if I my
entire existence could be confined to a single point particle. There are no distractions in this environment and I
experience what I believe to comparable to the sense of inner peace.
Creativity is my asylum. Without a form of escape from reality I would not truly know myself. In my asylum my
deepest thoughts present themselves, my true personality reveals itself across the medium and I, in a sense,
encounter a personality that is not often present in my daily life. Art allows me to express my inner most self and
the ability to do so brings meaning to my life.

Affirmations
Honor Code and
Fundamental
Standard

Yes

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Agree to terms of
Stanford
application

Yes

International
applicants NOT
applying for
financial aid

Yes

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