Super Students
Saturday, August 8, 1998
Name: Steven Okamoto
Age: 17
School: Hilo High School
Favorite subject: None
Pastimes: Reading
Future: Computer programmer
Steven Okamoto expects nothing but perfection. A flawless SAT score
In his sophomore year at Hilo High School, Okamoto got an 800 in math and a nearly perfect score in verbal on his Scholastic Assessment Test. But in May last year, he got a flawless combined score of 1,600 on his exam, a goal that he always wanted to achieve.
"To me, the SAT is not really about what you know so much as knowing what the test writers are looking for," he said.
Okamoto, one of six valedictorians, graduated in June with a grade-point average of 4.1 and ranked No. 1 in his class of about 340 students.
"He's very intelligent, very bright," band teacher Armando Mendoza said. Okamoto, who knows how to play the oboe, bass drum, bassoon, baritone saxophone and viola, is a talented musician and well-rounded student.
Besides being in the Hilo High Viking Band, he was in the French, math and science clubs, the Mock Trial team and the National Honor Society.
Okamoto recently accepted a four-year tuition scholarship from the University of Southern California, where he will start school next month and major in computer science.
"I know he'll do extremely well at USC," Mendoza said. "I don't have any doubts about that. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, I'll be keeping an eye out for him in the newspaper or Time magazine. I'll really miss him."
By Shirley Iida, Star-Bulletin
