Jr. Billiken Spotlight
Benjamin Hilker '12
Activities during the past four years: Latin Club, Gadfly, Theater, National Honor Society, Anime Club, Inventors Club, Photography Club, Racquetball, Pastoral Team
Accomplishments: Principal’s Leadership Award, Photographer of the Year Award, National Latin Exam (gold medal)
As the school year neared an end for seniors, Benjamin Hilker was focused on more than final exams and thoughts of summer and college. He was thinking about giving something back to his classmates.
Hilker, a member of the Photography Club who earned the Photographer of the Year Award, wanted the senior class to remember their time at SLUH through imagery. Thus, he compiled more than 400 photos he had taken of the senior class, printed them and taped them on the walls inside the School.
After they were on display for several days, seniors who wished to keep any of the photos were allowed to take them. (CLICK HERE to read “More than 1,000 words: Hilker’s gift to SLUH” in the Prep News.)
When remembering his time at SLUH, Hilker recounts the unity of his class and the friendships forged with faculty members.
“The teachers here at SLUH are really your friends,” he says. “I’ve always felt comfortable around them and enjoyed having fun conversations with them. Each one of them is brilliant in their own unique way.”
Throughout his four years at the U. High, Hilker has combined academic excellence and exemplary leadership in school and community activities. These qualities earned him the Principal’s Leadership Award.
“At SLUH there was no niche that I had to fall into,” he says. “I was able to make my own niche. I could participate in so many different activities and because of that I was able to meet so many people.”
Hilker has particularly enjoyed and excelled in his computer science coursework.
Looking to the future, he says, “I’m really interested in the research that goes into smart grids and seeking better solutions for energy conservation.”
In the fall, Hilker will be attending Purdue University, where he plans to study electrical engineering. When he graduates from SLUH, he will take with him lifelong friends, an ability to think critically, and memories captured through a vivid tapestry of imagery.
>>>CLICK HERE to view some of Hilker's photography at SLUH.
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Did You Know?
The Billiken is a symbol of good luck that became a national craze in the early 1900s.