Most teenagers enjoy the weekend due to the fact it is a chance to sleep in and take a break from all of their school work. For senior Thomas King, weekends include waking up before 6 a.m. to catch the bus heading to the UIL Academic meet and dominating the many events he competes in.

Number sense, calculator, general math, and computer science are all UIL events that King participates in. He has striven to do his very best with his coach’s encouragement ever since a young age.

“Way back in 3rd grade, they offered the first math event and I thought that it would be fun,” King said. “So I tried it, and just over the years I’ve kept doing it and doing it. The coaches kept saying, ‘Hey, you should keep doing it; it can be good for scholarships,’ and so that’s what led me to here.”

King attends practice every day of the week after school and most of the time, practice lasts for over an hour. Although time consuming, all of his practice and commitment dedicated was not in vain after he advanced to the state academic meet just last year. He won third place in number sense, fourth place in general math, and in computer science his team placed second overall.

“Last year when we went to state, we did well and I did well,” King said. “That’s probably one of my biggest  memories, is getting the recognition at state.”

Ever since King was young, mathematics seemed to come more easy to him compared to other subjects. He feels as though other subjects do not necessarily have a definite answer and could range from several different solutions rather than math, which has one answer. For this reason, he has continued to participate in math UIL events for a total of nine years. King plans on dedicating more time to computer science in his future.

“From what I have learned from doing computer science UIL, is that I kind of like the field,” King said. “I like what you would need to know to go into that field so I’m going to go to college and major in computer science and get a degree to find a good job.”

When King goes to larger meets, such as the state meet, he sees other students from many places who are as just as good or even better than he is, who are trying as hard as they can to do well. From this, he said he gets a more competitive feeling that makes him want to prove how capable he is of doing an impressive job.

“Winning first place feels good,” King said. “Obviously, how much you work is going to show how well you’re going to do. So me getting first means I’m the one working the hardest. It feels good to say you’re working the hardest in what you’re doing.”

King said he wants to see this year’s hard work pay off and hopes to win first place in one of his events at the state meet. He doesn’t want it to be just about getting a first place medal, but hopes to be recognized for his hard work.

“UIL has helped me in other areas of my life by giving me something that I know I’m good at,” King said. “It makes you think that ‘Even if I can’t, the classes are hard, and I’m not getting good grades or something,’ I’ll still have UIL. I’ve got something to fall back on.”