Name: Drew Mikuska

Age: 17

Grade: Senior

School: Hinsdale South High School

Accomplishment: Mikuska, who is starting his senior year at Hinsdale South this week, keeps busy with many extra-curricular activities. He's a school representative for Habitat for Humanity and a liaison for DuPage Habitat for Humanity; through the organization, he has participated in Sleep in a Box, a fundraiser during which participants sleep outside to raise money for Habitat, and helped build a youth house over the summer. Mikuska was also vice-president of Hinsdale South's Spanish Club last year, and hopes to be president his senior year. He is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society, an attorney for Mock Trial, a member of Mock U.N., an executive board member of the National Honor Society, a DJ for South's radio station, and is working on creating the Film Critics Organization with one of his English teachers. And as if all of those activities weren't enough, Mikuska also spends time composing music and taking vocal, guitar, and piano lessons. 

Key to Awesomeness: Mikuska may have a wide variety of interests, but he is most passionate about music and politics. "I want to go to college and double major in music composition and international relations," Mikuska said. He is especially interested in cinematic music, as he hopes to eventually write music for films; his favorite score is Danny Elfman's for Edward Scissorhands. He is also already cultivating his interest in international relations by participating in Model U.N. and Mock Trial. "I'm interested in politics and geopolitical problems," Mikuska said. "It's exciting because for Model U.N. this year, for our December conference in Chicago, the simulation that I'm involved in takes place in 1989 and [Hinsdale South] is Russia, so we get to do a Cold War simulation." He is also one of a few selected Hinsdale South students who will attend the spring Model U.N. conference in New York City. Mikuska also hopes to go to state for Mock Trial. "I'm really passionate about it," he said. 

What’s Next: Mikuska hopes to attend college at a school near an urban area. He is looking at Northwestern, the University of Southern California, and New York University, with Northwestern being his favorite right now. "It's perfect in my eyes," he said. "Northwestern has amazing programs for both [music and international relations]." He then hopes to attend USC for graduate school to study film scoring. Before all that, though, Mikuska is eager to start his last year of high school. "I'm really excited for senior year," Mikuska said. "It's the last chapter of this stage in my life before college. I want to do a lot of things with friends and family before I leave."