Jacob Fike’s older siblings motivate him to stay near the top of his Lima Senior High School class, and his dad is responsible for the senior’s future engineering career.
The son of John and Erin Fike maintains a 3.9 grade-point average and is headed to the University of Cincinnati to study engineering.
“We are all pretty competitive about grades without even meaning to be and that pushes me,” he said of his siblings, adding that his ACT score of 30 tops the family.
“I feel the pressure to keep up with them and what I have done in the past,” he added. “I am used to getting all A’s, so I strive to continue to even as my classes get harder.”
Jacob is leaning toward studying electrical engineering at Cincinnati and doing something in robotics or sound amplification systems in the future.
“I have always been interested in how things work,” he said. “With engineering, you can apply your knowledge to directly solving problems and also use your hands to make things.”
A long-time interest in new technology and a subscription to Popular Mechanics Magazine helped set his direction in life too. And, he takes after his dad.
“My dad is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. He looks up instructions on the Internet and does it himself,” he said. “He instilled in me the attitude that you can make what you need. You don’t need to buy it or settle without it.”
Jacob is very involved in Lima Senior’s various music programs. He sings in the Masterworks Choir, Show Choir and Spartanaires. He plays the tuba in the symphonic and jazz bands and the sousaphone in the Spartan Marching Pride.
And when it fit in with his already busy winter Spartan wrestling schedule, he played in the pep band too. Jacob has wrestled for 10 years.
Starting out on the football team his freshman year, Jacob’s older sister and friends convinced him to try marching band. He’s glad he listened.
“I regret not doing it my freshman year,” he said. “It has just been a really great experience.”
Jacob says he will always have music in his life. He plans to try out for the marching and pep bands and possibly other bands and choirs in college. His dad taught him to play guitar and that will go with him wherever he goes.
“I have my own guitar,” he said. “So I will always have music with me.”
Jacob is also involved with the youth group at Shawnee Alliance Church and was previously a Boy Scout.