Dawson Sallee is taking his own advice.
Sallee, one of Guthrie High School’s 2022 valedictorians, approached the podium at the Lazy E Arena during graduation and addressed his fellow seniors. Dressed in a blue robe adorned with a dapper mix of teal and yellow ribbons and cords conveying proficiency, he spoke for three minutes.
Sallee’s speech was short and authentic — a product of working with Jeff Jordan, his three-year English teacher. Sallee wanted to speak how he talked.
With a steady usage of impressive vocabulary words like “paradigm” and “inculcated,” and a quote from “The great American poet” Dwight K. Schrute, a character in “The Office,” Sallee delivered his message.
“Basically what I said was, don’t be afraid to take risks,” Sallee said.
Sallee, 18, has the pedigree to match the vibrant ribbons he wore during graduation that contrasted with the red dirt floor of the Lazy E Arena. He is a National Merit Scholar Finalist and Meridian Tech graduate.
“He is one of the smartest kids that I’ve ever taught,” Jordan said. “And an incredibly hard worker. The growth from his freshman year to senior year is immense.”
Sallee will attend the University of Central Florida in the fall. By choosing to attend UCF in Orlando, he will leave his comfort zone. He is an analytical person, and will enroll to pursue either mechanical engineering or aerospace engineering.
Sallee knows how much it costs to drive his white ‘99 GMC from home to school, $8, and when to wake up, 5:45 a.m., in time to attend Meridian Technology Center before completing his regular school day at Guthrie.
“When you’re so analytical, you can let that fear trap you in,” Sallee said. “This last year I’ve tried to break that down. If you want to be really, really successful in life, you have to be able to take those risks.”
Sallee’s motivation is his key. Not only was he able to develop detailed plans to follow for success in high school, but he also was able to execute. One goal was to become a National Merit Scholar.
To become a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, a student must score in the top 0.5% of people in their state on the PSAT, a precursor test to the SAT. Students must also score well on the SAT and round out their portfolio with extracurricular activities. One after-school interest that boosted Sallee’s résumé was his experience with rockets.
Last fall, Sallee was accepted into the NASA L’SPACE Academy, a 12- week online program. In The Mission Concept Academy, Sallee and his team of high school and college students received handson experience in aerospace engineering while planning out a hypothetical mission.
He and his group chose to focus on how to analyze water feedstock on Mars.
“Basically, we created a rover,” Sallee said. “We went through the whole process. We had a 120-page report.”
With his résumé bolstered, Sallee practiced a lot for the tests. He calculated that the hours spent were worth it.
“Over Christmas break I think I took 20 (SAT) practice tests, which sounds nutty, and at times I was like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ But then I did (the math on) an hour to (equate) how much money on scholarships, and it was worth it for sure,” Sallee said.
It was easier to practice when he saw progress, and he got the scores he needed in March.
“You build up those neural networks and those problems go through that same vein of logic,” Sallee said. “So if you can just practice those over and over again, you can recognize those patterns. A lot of it is just patterns, in a way.”
The National Merit Scholarship winners have yet to be announced. Regardless of whether or not he wins, Sallee has done enough to attend UCF on a full-ride scholarship.
“It’s not a shocker that (Sallee is) doing whatever he wants,” Jordan said. “He’s going to UCF. It’s not a shocker that he’s gone that far. It’s not just his talent. It’s his work ethic. He wants to be the best.”
Sallee initially planned to attend Oklahoma State. He had previously looked into UCF, though, and when decision time came, the Knights’ strong engineering program was enough to choose Orlando. Aerospace is tantalizing because of UCF’s proximity to Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, and the partnership that exists between UCF and the engineering giants.
Big picture, Sallee’s goal is to run his own business. He’s willing to move across the country to pursue that.
He falls back to his speech on graduation night, and the message he hoped resonated with his fellow graduates entering “the real world.”
“In real life, taking risks is rewarded,” Sallee said. “You have to take those risks even though it seems completely new.”