FULLERTON : Sunny Hills Senior Does the Honors

A Bart Simpson poster bearing the title “Underachiever” hangs in Jedidiah Yueh’s bedroom, but a look around the room and at the encyclopedias, reference books on writing and a computer indicate the sign is an ironic reference to the Sunny Hills High senior.

As a recently named U.S. Presidential Scholar, considered the nation’s highest honor to high school students, Yueh has added another to his long list of awards and honors, which include more than $11,000 in scholarships. The 17-year-old shares the honor with 141 other seniors in the United States and its territories--all chosen after a rigorous application process that included essays, self-assessments, community activities and leadership achievements.

As part of the honor, which carries no monetary prize, he will shake hands with President Bush and receive a medallion when he and his English teacher Roy C. Bogseth attend a White House ceremony later this month.

Bogseth, who taught Yueh advanced placement and international baccalaureate level English during his freshman and senior years, will also be honored as a Scholars’ Distinguished Teacher for being named the most influential educator by the student.

“Rather than writing at the level of a high school senior, he’s writing like a college senior,” Bogseth said. “He has a tremendous sophistication of style that captures the reader. He’s not afraid to experiment, he’ll try different approaches, different angles.”

Yueh plans to use that knack for writing and become a novelist. “I used to like math and science a great deal more,” he said, “but I prefer the more creative end of writing, which I think is more difficult.”

This last year, he honed his language skills while editor-in-chief and columnist for the Accolade, the school newspaper, as well as working as a contributor for The Times Orange County Edition’s High Life page. He has won several county and Southland trophies for newswriting.

A California Scholarship Federation seal bearer, National Honor Society member and school valedictorian, Yueh annually received academic letters and the Principal’s High Honor Roll. The scholarships he won this year include: Coca-Cola Regional, $4,000; National Merit, $2,000; Orange County Centennial, $2,500; and the state’s Robert C. Byrd Honors award, $1,500.

Yueh will attend Harvard, which he chose over Princeton, Yale and Stanford. The last named him a Jordan Scholar, and he was also accepted at UC Riverside, although he didn’t even apply.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Yueh has been involved in several school clubs and competed on the water polo and swim teams during his sophomore and junior years. He also worked as a volunteer assistant instructor at Outdoor Science School, at the Braille Institute and at a handicapped ski school.

Yueh said his he does not get much pressure from his parents, who fled from China in the late 1940s. “All they ever wanted was good grades,” he said. “All my pressure comes from myself. I just kind of do it.”