Whether he is studying current events, playing classical guitar or volunteering with organizations around Austin, senior Sam Hearne is always learning. He’s always been that way.

“Some of my earliest memories are of being read to by my parents.” Hearne remembers. “I’ve always been very interested in learning about things.”

Maybe that’s why he has pursued so many different interests during his four years of high school. A balance of involvement in the arts as well as more academic endeavors has shaped who he has become throughout his time at McCallum.

Hearne’s involvement in the arts largely centers around classical guitar. Starting lessons at age 9, Hearne joined the guitar ensemble while at Fulmore Middle School.

“I really enjoyed [being in the Fulmore ensemble], so I wanted to continue that at McCallum,” he said of his decision to major in guitar in the Fine Arts Academy. He has been a member of the chamber guitar ensemble, the highest ensemble level, since sophomore year.

In addition to guitar, Hearne was until recently a key member of McCallum’s AV Program. He feels that McCallum has been an ideal place to foster his many interests.

“It’s nice to be able to do these sorts of things that may not be the focus at other schools,” Hearne said. “Here, they’re really strong programs that you can get a lot out of.”

Beyond the arts, Hearne is a member of the McCallum current events team that AP U.S. History teacher Cliff Stanchos launched last spring. After trying out and thoroughly enjoying the team-based question-and-answer Quiz Bowl competition in eighth grade, Hearne felt that he could contribute to the newly founded team.

In a competitive setting, each member of the five-person team takes a multiple-choice test and answers essay questions to test their knowledge and understanding of world events and. Each member receives an individual score, and the top three scores make up the team score.

The team has been successful in the short time it has been around, snagging first place as a team at this year’s Pflugerville Invitational UIL meet earlier this November after winning the district title last spring and just missing qualifying for the state academic meet.

“It’s fun to be with a team and collaborate with them,” Hearne says of the bonding benefits of being part of the team, which consists of other seniors Alex Tzaperas, Miles Johnson and Carson Coronado and junior Charlie Holden.

For Hearne, working with others isn’t something that’s limited to the McCallum campus. While he’s not working on his academic and artistic endeavors, Hearne spends much of his time outside of school working with an English-as-a-second-language class for with Worker’s Defense Project, a local organization that focuses on helping low-income immigrants from Latin America and Spanish speaking countries.

In that latter capacity, Hearne works as an assistant in the level-one English class with people twice his age and such a different background than his own. While he has worked to help others, he has also gained valuable communication skills from the experience as well as a new perspective. Hearne acknowledges the difficulties that he sometimes faces navigating such a challenging communications barrier.

“I have to teach these people who are my parent’s age basic English, and it’s difficult to try and do that without sounding condescending or feeling like I’m talking down to them,” Hearne said. “A lot of people in that class work seven days a week and 10-12 hours a day. … It’s good to be able to hear from people whose life experiences are so different than mine.”

The class he works with graduated from their level-one class last week.

Hearne feels he’s grown and clarified his goals greatly since freshman year.

After graduation, Hearne plans to pursue a humanities major at a liberal arts college, where he plans to figure out how he’d like to apply all of his interests to a potential career.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what college is like,” Hearne says. “I’m excited to check off another box.”

If his high school experience is any indicator, he won’t just be checking off a box in college. He’ll be thinking outside of it.