The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” is often used to describe an individual who partakes in a myriad of endeavors but doesn’t excel in many. Well, senior Vincent Cao is a jack of all trades and master of also all of those trades. Whether on stage tickling the ivory keys of a grand piano, butterfly-stroking his way through the pool, diligently solving physics equations, debating governmental policies or making executive decisions for the senior class, Cao can be found delicately balancing his intense academic workload with his various diverse extracurricular activities.

As a highly-involved member and president of the class of 2026, Cao prioritizes time management skills to find the precarious equilibrium between living a fulfilling high school experience and achieving his high-set goals. As he graduates from high school, Cao hopes to leave advice for younger students wishing to emulate his levels of academic success.

“If they know that they have assignments due soon and they need to do something for their extracurriculars [like] practice an instrument, volunteer somewhere, etc., and their friends invited them to hang out, then they need to decide which of the three are most important to them and adjust their schedule accordingly,” Cao said.

Cao’s longest-standing involvement of playing the piano has resulted in competitions at the local, state and international levels in New York City, Houston, Austria and Finland, while also performing solos at places like Carnegie Hall and the Ehrbar Palace in Vienna. According to Cao, this passion for music has also led to various research projects.

“I presented my first research paper [on in-signal processing applications for music] to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers second International Conference on Artificial Intelligence x Humanities, Education and Art, and it will be published to IEEE’s online library in 2026,” Cao said. “My second research paper was recently accepted to the 32nd International Congress on Sound and Vibration as well.”

Despite these ambitious accomplishments outside of school, Cao has also maintained leadership positions within co-curricular environments, shouldering the roles of senior class president and debate captain.

“I’ve been the class president for the past three years, where I’ve organized volunteer events at animal shelters, fundraisers for local charities and community events serving thousands of people,” Cao said. “I’ve also been debating for four years in Cross-Examination debate, where I’ve qualified for the quarterfinal round at the UIL 5A state competition for the past two years.”

However, according to Cao, his achievements have not come without their hardships but persevering will pay off in the long run.

“When I first started taking AP Spanish 4, I felt extremely confident,” Cao said. “I had aced Spanish 1-3, and I figured that the AP level class couldn’t be much different. Yet, I soon found myself struggling with keeping conversations and remembering basic vocabulary. That class was probably one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken. Despite these challenges, though, I was determined to see it through. I spent a lot of time practicing at home and consulting the teacher, and eventually, I was able to improve my Spanish enough to do well on the AP test.”

Throughout his four years exploring innumerable options, the one class that truly sparked his curiosity and led him to pick engineering as a career path was AP Physics C, Cao said.

“[Physics C] taught me the theoretical concepts behind how our world works and how modern technology functions,” Cao said. “I plan to major in engineering, so I’m excited to see how the theoretical concepts I learn in physics and other classes can be applied to real-world scenarios.”

This upcoming fall, Cao will be attending Cornell University, a private university in Ithaca, New York that is part of the Ivy League, to major in electrical and computer engineering, where he hopes to lean toward the hardware aspects of engineering. As the academic year comes to a close, Cao reflects on his time spent pursuing his interests.

“Honestly, I’m proud of how I’ve been able to keep up all of my activities at the same time,” Cao said. “It hasn’t been easy juggling so many things, but as I leave high school, I’m glad that I was able to devote my attention to so much stuff. Maintaining such a wide variety of activities has exposed me to so many viewpoints, allowed me to make so many new friends and [given] me so many experiences that I know I will cherish forever.”