Jess Buetow is a young man who recently graduated from Michigan City High School (MCHS), where he maintained a commitment to service and thrived academically. Despite growing up far from Michigan City, moving from his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan to La Porte County shortly before his freshman year, Buetow found his niche and success.
Academically, Buetow has thrived. He was commended as a National Merit Scholar for his high test scores. Buetow also participated in technology-related clubs at MCHS such as the MC Robotics team, and the Computer Science Honor Society.
In his early middle school years, Buetow had come across a vintage BASIC programming book, (BASIC is one of the earliest programming languages). This book sparked a strong interest that has followed Buetow throughout school, and now into his wishes for his future career.
“I enjoy working with computers because everything you can do with a computer can be done in many different ways,” said Buetow. “It is very satisfying to find better and more unique ways to accomplish a task.”
This appreciation for learning and improvement translates into other aspects of Buetow’s life. Buetow will be attending Purdue University in the fall to study Computer Science. With that degree, Buetow wants to work in Systems Engineering at Microsoft or International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
“I want to work on improving security in operating systems,” said Buetow. “There was a big leak a couple of years ago. It directly affected the National Security Agency. I want to help ensure things like that don’t continue happening.”
Besides his skill in and appreciation for computer systems, Buetow is also skilled in French and playing the flute. In elementary school, Buetow had the opportunity to learn the basics of the French language, and in his sophomore year he enrolled in French classes. In his senior year, Buetow received a Bronze medal in the “Le Grand Concours," a national competition testing students' skills in the French language.
“Our teacher told us maybe 20 minutes before the test, ‘Hey guys, I found something fun for you!’” said Buetow. “It turned out to be a national French exam. We took it in the form of a lockdown browser. There were multiple-choice, short-answer, and listening comprehension questions.”
Outside of his academic career, Buetow enjoys playing the flute and has been playing since middle school. While he considers it a hobby, he was also involved in the MCHS Band. Buetow enjoys reading as well. He reads different kinds of materials, from reference books to Japanese light novels.
Buetow is excited to attend Purdue in the fall. He plans to live in an apartment on campus and is excited to experience life in West Lafayette. If Buetow could tell incoming MCHS freshmen anything, he would iterate on the importance of respect and collaboration.
“I think it’s important to try to get along with your teachers,” said Buetow. “If you give your teachers respect and do your best to get along with them, they will do their best to accommodate you and offer assistance. I would like to thank my parents, grandparents, and teachers for helping me reach where I am now.”