FAIRVIEW — Shane Snyder, a co-valedictorian at Fairview High School, has become the first graduate from the Oscoda County district in at least 30 years to be accepted to an Ivy League university. Snyder will attend Harvard University this fall on a near-full ride scholarship.
The high school senior maintained a 4.0 GPA while participating in the Science Olympiad program. Snyder plans to pursue a medical degree at the university, a goal inspired by the loss of his father at age 7. Although he struggled with social isolation during his freshman year, Snyder credited his involvement in extracurricular science programs for giving him the confidence to apply to top-tier institutions.
Fairview to Harvard
Snyder said his journey to academic success began with a difficult transition into high school. Despite having a strong circle of friends, he described his freshman year as a “lull” and a hard time in his life. “I’m not too sure what happened, but it was just a hard time in my life,” Snyder said. “It’s like a midlife crisis. But it wasn’t my midlife. It was very, very weird. And I became really unsocial. I really didn’t talk to anyone.”
During this period, Snyder began eating lunch alone in classrooms, which caused his teachers to express concern for his well-being.
Shane’s trajectory changed during his sophomore year when he joined the Science Olympiad, an international organization that had just launched a chapter at Fairview High School. Birte Sumerix, the Science Olympiad adviser at Fairview, oversaw Snyder’s development in the program. “It is so fun talking to him about sciency things, because anything he reads, anything he studies, he’s so dedicated and it just sticks in his brain and he can apply it,” Sumerix said. Snyder credited the program with giving him a sense of purpose and helping him regain his confidence.
As Snyder maintained a 4.0 GPA, his college goals began to expand. His initial dream was to attend the University of Michigan. After retaking the SAT several times to improve his score, he was encouraged by his cousin to aim for a more ambitious target. Snyder decided to apply to Harvard University, an Ivy League institution, to see if he could reach an even higher goal. “I was like, well, I think I can do this now, so I might as well up it even higher, go for a bigger goal, a dream of mine,” Snyder said.
Snyder’s desire to enter the medical field is rooted in a personal tragedy he experienced at age 7 when his father passed away. He noted that his father struggled with alcoholism, an experience that shaped his future career path. “I think that also guided me to pursue medicine and my medical career because I could see how much he struggled and I kind of just want to help other people,” Snyder said.
The news of Snyder’s Ivy League acceptance has resonated throughout the Fairview High School hallways. Sumerix noted that other students have already expressed interest in following Snyder’s path, with some asking to lead the Science Olympiad next year. “His positiveness or positivity is that spreads through the entire school,” Sumerix said. “I already had kids come to me saying, hey, can I be the president next year of Science Olympiad? I want to do what Shane is doing now.”
Snyder noted that his perspective as a student from a rural district provided a unique advantage during the competitive application process. He explained that while students in larger cities may have more resources, the adversity faced by rural students makes their perspectives special. “We’re all so unique,” Snyder said. “It’s about harnessing that true story, that unique perspective that you have that just people from a big school or a big city might not have.”
Snyder will graduate as co-valedictorian this spring before heading to Massachusetts in the fall. He said he hopes his story serves as evidence for other students that they can achieve their goals through consistent effort.
“I just want people to know that if they have a goal and they have an actual dream, that if they make small little improvements over and over again every day, every week and they can work toward that goal and their goal can become reality,” Snyder said.