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DICKINSON — Established in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program recognizes and honors the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, up to 161 students from across the country are named Presidential Scholars, many coming from prestigious and historic academic programs. This year, Dickinson High School’s very own Lukas Mavity was selected as one of four recipients in North Dakota to receive said honor.
As a graduating senior of the Class of 2022, Mavity said that he’s still in shock at being hand picked as one of the few to receive the U.S. Presidential Scholar recognition.
“It's unbelievable and honestly, I can't believe (it)," Mavity said. "... There's so many kids in the United States that have applied for this and I'm just happy to be one of them."
Back in December, Mavity began the application process — not knowing whether he’d make it to the finalists.
“So we filled it out and (we were) kind of hoping for the best and got all through the application process. And then, we were selected as one of the semi finalists, and it was cool because it was narrowed down to 500 kids out of everybody who applied,” Mavity said. “Then when we got to the finalists and it was 161 kids, I couldn’t believe it. That’s just so many kids across the United States. I’m happy to be one of them.”
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From being brought up as a freshman to the varsity football team to being involved in National Honor Society, Mavity said that he enjoys being active in school.
“So I just wanted to be involved with as much as possible, and I've always liked extracurricular activities. And so I've always played football, I played basketball my freshman and sophomore year. And then this year (in) my senior year, I wrestled kind of went out on a limb and then I've always rodeoed,” he said.
While juggling extracurricular activities, school work and a side job, Mavity said that he looks up to his parents.
“My mom, she's a teacher here at the middle school… It's good grades, it’s putting in the hard work. So she’s one. My dad, he's not so much on me on the school wise, but definitely (keeps me on a) straight path, don't do anything dumb and graduate,” he said, adding, “And so they kind of keep me grounded and then I think a lot of it is myself too a lot. I want to achieve big things.”
For his younger, upcoming classmates, Mavity encourages students to go after what they want to do, have a big goal in mind and work hard to achieve it.
“Our community isn’t as big as like Los Angeles or New York and so it feels good to really put Dickinson on the map and show that we have kids here that compete with kids across the nation,” he added.
Following graduation at Dickinson High School, Mavity said that he plans to attend Black Hills State University in Spearfish, where he will major in chemistry with hopes of acquiring his chemical engineering degree. He hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps, who works in the oil field as an electrical superintendent, and someday work in the same line whether it’s North Dakota or Texas. In South Dakota, Mavity will also continue his rodeo career with calf roping and team roping events.
