Stony Point High School Salutatorian Morgan Santoni-Colvin has a passion for the physical sciences and plans to develop that passion as he majors in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall.

Morgan said he aspires to help those in developing countries have a better life.

“Mechanical Engineering falls directly in line with my passion for the physical sciences. It’s uniquely interesting to learn the way the world works and apply that to make things for the betterment of humanity,” Morgan said. “I want to use my degree to help produce technologies for the people of the developing world, who truly need this kind of expertise more than us.”

Besides the physical sciences, Morgan said he has developed a deep appreciation for history and credits his International Baccalaureate (IB) History teacher Jesse Adams for fostering his love of history and desire to compete academically. Morgan said competing and placing in the UIL state academic meet has been one of the highlights of his high school career.

Another highlight was becoming an Eagle Scout. He said scouts is one of the first places he realized he could change the community around him for the better.

In addition to becoming an Eagle Scout and competing at the state level in social studies, Morgan led his peers as National Honor Society president, was part of the IB Programme and the IB student organization.

When asked to describe Morgan, Adams said he is a natural born leader and he has had the privilege of teaching Morgan for three of his four years at Stony Point.

“Morgan has one of the sharpest and brightest minds of any student who has ever come through my classroom,” Adams said. “He is one of those few people in life that it is near impossible to find anything negative to say about. I consider it a privilege to have been his teacher for as long as I have.”

Morgan, who attended Gattis Elementary School and Hernandez Middle School, said he is looking forward to college, but first wants to enjoy the fanfare and traditions that accompany high school graduation.