LFHS Top 10 Spotlight: Jacob Stambaugh

Story and photo by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Jacob Stambaugh knew at a young age that he would be seen as a role model to three younger sisters as the only son in the family.

And because of his high academic ranking as one of the Top 10 students in the Los Fresnos High School Class of 2017, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I have set the bar pretty high for them,” said Jacob, the son of Larry and Michelle Stambaugh. “I enjoy helping them with homework.”

Now the class ranking has become competitive with three younger sisters who strive to do better academically than their older brother.

Jacob has been involved in numerous school activities in his four years at LFHS and Los Fresnos United.

He is the President of the Senior Class, and was also President of the Junior Class last year.

“Being the class officer has been of my favorite activities,” Jacob said. “It’s been a lot of fun and help plan and fund-raise for everything.”

He has also participated in UIL Academics and Science Bowl for all four years, and was a regional qualifier for Number Sense and Science, and has served on the Fellowship of Christian Athletes each year as well.

“My schedule has always been pretty packed. Most times after school, I have a practice for a club or UIL.”

Other extracurricular activities have included Business Professionals of America (BPA), Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Students with Awesome Thoughts (SWAT) and National Honor Society. He has also performed several hundreds of hours of community service work.

Jacob has been accepted into the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, and plans to major in biomedical engineering.

“It has a lot of engineering in it, but it applies a lot to the medical field,” he said. “There is a possibility that I will also go into medical school.”

Biomedical engineering is a broad field that covers research to actual applications like prosthetics. Career opportunities are available in imaging and mapping, molecular level bio-medical engineering, regenerative medicine, or nanotechnology.

Jacob’s advice for middle school students: “I would tell them not to give up. Keep doing the hard work and the rewards will come. Be persistent. You got to keep going. It will pay off and you will get the good grades you want to see if you put in the work.”