Duncanville ISD School & Family Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 7

Salutatorian Served Fellow Students
with Leadership
During his years at
Duncanville High School,
there’s little Sharif Long has
not done.
He is an excellent student and
has the honor of graduating
as salutatorian in his class,
but that’s just scratching the
surface.
Sharif has a long list of clubs
and activities to his credit. And
he took on leadership roles in
each of them.
“I was so interested in
everything,” Sharif said. “I
wanted to try everything.
Every organization I’ve been a
part of, it wasn’t just something to put on a resume. It
helped me become the person I am.”
It was Sharif’s experience in his Health Science
Practicum internship that set him on his career path.
He and his fellow students worked at Methodist
Charlton Medical Center alongside doctors and
nurses.
“Being at the hospital was cool,” Sharif said. “We were
able to work with patients, and getting to see behind
the scenes was eye-opening.”
Sharif will be attending the University of Texas
next fall on a full scholarship. He is one of just 175
students accepted into the Plan II Honors program at
UT-Austin, which is an interdisciplinary curriculum
leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Following his undergraduate studies, Sharif plans
to apply to medical school to become an orthopedic
surgeon.
It’s an ambitious path, but Sharif says his high school
career has prepared him well.
“I think one of the biggest things
Duncanville offered for me was
the ability to do a wide variety
of things. I was able to explore
and build on that throughout my
years,” Sharif said.
One of Sharif’s greatest
accomplishments was winning
the governorship of Texas in
Youth and Government in
2017. It was the first time in
the history of the organization
that a delegate won in the first
round of voting, and he won by a
landslide.
Sharif has overseen student
government at Duncanville High
School as well. He was a member
of Student Council for four years, serving as president
of his class for the last two years.
“He is intelligent and very talented but this is only
magnified by his kindness and compassion for
others,” said Youth and Government Sponsor, Dianne
Williams.
As if his other accomplishments weren’t enough,
Sharif also earned the position of drum major for
the Duncanville High School Marching band; and in
his junior year, Sharif made the All-State band on his
tuba. The students selected for that honor represent a
fraction of all band students in the state of Texas.
Sharif’s teachers had only kind words to say about
him and they lament next year won’t be the same
without him.
“Sharif is one of those students every teacher dreams
about having in class or extra-curricular activity and
wishes every other teacher had the opportunity to
experience,” Student Council Sponsor David Womack
said.
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