CRANE Gael Nuno has earned a number of accolades in his high school career. He’s the valedictorian at Crane High School, president of the National Honor Society and the UIL silver medalist in physics.
Nuno, 18, plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to study aerospace engineering.
He has been involved in UIL competition since his freshman year and it’s the first time he has won a medal at that level.
“I also did it in middle school, but it’s not the same as high school,” Nuno said.
He took a physics test and then they progress based on how well you do. Nuno said it’s like a standardized test, but it’s college-level physics.
He hopes to go into designing spacecraft, rockets and rovers.
“… I’ve always grown up watching science fiction movies. I was always amazed by seeing all these ships and then I went to NASA. I saw all their technology and it got me involved,” Nuno said.
Nuno has an older brother and a younger sister. His brother is going into nursing.
Nuno was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, but moved to Crane when he was 3.
Getting into UT Austin was definitely a challenge.
“But I think all these awards I’ve gotten through UIL have made me stand out, kind of,” Nuno said.
He has participated in UIL math, science, computer science and computer applications.
“But in math, computer applications and computer science I’ve only gone to the regional or district level,” he said.
This was his second trip to state, but last year everything was different because of COVID.
“Instead of going to UT Austin, we went to different universities. So I went to Angelo State University and then a small portion of students nearby to that university would go there and then test,” Nuno said.
You have up to two hours to complete the test.
“I’ve been studying this entire year. (I) was very prepared,” he added.
He has been doing everything online to get ready.
“I took a dual credit course from Angelo and I just watched videos that are posted on there. And then I’d take notes or I go to YouTube and I do my own research,” Nuno said.
He added that he was pretty amazed when he won the silver medal.
“I was happy to see all my hard work paid off. Last year I made it but I didn’t manage to medal, so it was definitely an improvement,” Nuno said.
As for being valedictorian, he said it’s an honor to be No. 1.
“And then with the tuition exemption I get, it provides a lot of financial aid for my studies,” he added.
Being valedictorian was something Nuno had been working toward his entire high school career. Besides UIL, he is president of the National Honor Society.
In UIL, he is in science, math, computer science, computer applications and Number Sense, which is all mental math.
He said he has done pretty well in his education at Crane.
“And then with the opportunities I get through dual credit, I think I’m prepared for college,” Nuno said.
He said he may not have to take a couple of courses, thanks to dual credit.
“I’ve worked very hard to get these achievements and I encourage others to do the same,” Nuno said.
For younger kids who want to get in the top 10 or win a medal at UIL, he said they are going to need to do a lot of independent study.
“Then they’re going to have to make sure they’re on top of their stuff from day one; make sure they’re always working hard,” he said.
He put in a lot of late nights studying, especially for UIL.
Cassie Anderson is the UIL coordinator, NHS coordinator and math department head at Crane High School.
Anderson said Nuno is very smart and self-driven.
“He basically taught himself calculus for the state test and he worked really hard to teach himself physics for this test. So without even having a physics teacher this year here at the school, he did the dual credit physics and pretty much taught himself everything to make it to state, so it’s very impressive,” Anderson said.
