Gavin Sawall isn’t shy about talking about himself.
He does it joyfully, with an infectious enthusiasm for his future as a student at the University of Florida in Gainesville and evolving career goals he hopes will link engineering, AI and his love for video editing.
And he has reason.
The 18-year-old Wiregrass Ranch High School senior is graduating at the top of his class, earning a 4.7368 weighted GPA and the designation as the Class of 2026 class valedictorian — an achievement he says reflects his drive to excel and a willingness to challenge himself in the most difficult classes in the school’s curriculum.
“Calculus, that probably was the hardest course I took,” admits the student who now hopes to become a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry — or perhaps a researcher in biomedical applications, or use the power of AI to transform his favorite video editing and anime hobbies into a lifelong career.
In high school, Sawall won at the State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida, became a National Merit Finalist and a Bright Futures Florida Academic Scholar, earned an AP diploma, and received a Benacquisto Scholarship that will help pay cover his tuition, fees, room, board, and books in college.
In his spare time, he also earned an associates of arts degree through the Pasco-Hernando State College dual enrollment program.
Sawall recently toured the University of Florida campus and is eager to meet his roommate, someone he hopes has “similar interests and likes to go out and have fun on campus or just chill in the dorm with friends.”
When Sawall graduates June 6, he will leave behind many friends he made while volunteering as a coach at Buddy Baseball, a Temple Terrace Leisure Services Department program that pairs Tampa Bay-area boys and girls with special needs with a buddy who helps them on the field and in the dugout.
“I spent summers for the past four years working with the teams and players. They were great kids,” Sawall says. He and other volunteers received college scholarships for their participation.
Sawall said he will miss the program and is determined to keep “giving to the less fortunate.”
That future will look much different than the one he envisioned growing up in Missouri. Sawall became a Floridian in 2017 when his dad’s job moved the family south. It was a major change for the then-shy 9-year-old only child.
“It was really different, but I found it easier to be more social here. There were a lot more kids and a lot more opportunities,” Sawall says.
He describes himself as “hard-working” and said he has always challenged himself, picking the hardest academic courses and chasing the highest grades.
Sawall said his parents, Jason and Janell, are his heroes.
“Mom is very social and really good at networking,” he said, “while Dad is good at everything, a real Jack-of-all-trades who can do anything and fix anything.”
He said he will miss them and their three dogs, a Keeshond, Max, and Corgis Remy Lou, and Kai while at school, though he will only will be a hours away from Wesley Chapel.