Whiz Kid: Patrick Lueg

Name: Patrick Lueg

Age: 17

Grade: Senior

School: 

Accomplishment: Lueg founded the Future Health Professionals earlier this year with a friend from Hinsdale South. The club promotes awareness in the health field through volunteering, fundraisers, and discussions in the community. Lueg is also the Media and Entertainment editor for the school newspaper, The Stinger, for which he also writes album reviews. He is a member of Mock Trial and Model U.N.; South's Model U.N. team recently competed at Chicago International Model United Nations (C.I.M.U.N.), where they received six awards. 

Lueg's other school activities include National Honor Society, Outdoor Club, Habitat for Humanity, Science Olympiad, and the Film Critics Organization. In addition, Lueg volunteers at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital most Fridays and is a member of the Downers Grove Township Peer Jury Program. 

Although he's involved in numerous extracurricular activities, Lueg's favorites are Mock Trial and working for The Stinger. "I feel like I'm most active in [those activities]" Lueg said. "I like writing articles in The Stinger." 

Key to Awesomeness: Lueg and his family have lived in five countries outside the United States: Germany (where Lueg was born and spent most of his childhood,) Nigeria, Ghana, Venezeula and Belize. He and his family moved to the United States in 2004. "My dad is in construction, so my mom and two sisters would follow him around," Lueg said. "He likes to work in non-developed countries." Lueg's international upbringing resulted in his ability to speak English, German and Spanish. His Nigerian mother taught him English, while his German father taught him German. 

Lueg's life in Germany was different from his life in the western suburbs. "In Germany, I lived in a small village surrounded by a lot of forestry," Lueg said. "It's not as urban as here. I really liked that part about Germany, the non-urbanness, the quaintness compared to the hustle and bustle of here." 

Although Lueg thinks he'd like to stay in the United States in the long run, he would like to travel. Two of the countries at the top of his list are Japan and Italy. "I love the way Italian sounds," Lueg said, "and the Italian landscape looks beautiful in pictures. I'd love to see that in person." 

What’s Next: Lueg has finished writing his college essays and is preparing to submit the common application to twelve schools. His top three colleges are Harvard, Duke and Northwestern. He plans on majoring in economics, but would like to be on track to attend medical school after he finishes undergrad.