Brian Van Eimeren, a senior at Health Careers High School, scored a perfect 2400 on the Scholastic Aptittude Test. When the National Honor Society member isn’t consumed with homework or a good book, he plays the French horn in the symphonic band, vies in UIL competitions and partakes in Latin Club. Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer

Senior Brian Van Eimeren sits at the lunch table in the Health Careers High School cafeteria with a sandwich in one hand and a book in the other. He reads attentively while sustaining conversation with his friends.

Not only is Van Eimeren a remarkable multitasker, but he is also the first student at Health Careers to receive a perfect score (2400) on the SAT.

Van Eimeren gives credit to his parents for their “genetic material” and to his older brother for helping him along the educational path. “My mom taught me Spanish as my first language and my dad used to have hourlong philosophical discussions with me,” said Van Eimeren, the son of Bill Van Eimeren and Maritza Hong.

Van Eimeren learned how to read when he was 4 years old. By the fifth grade, he had read the majority of the novels in the adult fiction section of his local library.

Van Eimeren turned his interest to the science fiction and fantasy genres and spent his elementary and middle school years reading one book a day.

“He truly wants to learn,” said Clyde Lehman, Brian’s Latin teacher. “He wants to discuss issues, he wants to discuss concepts, and he wants to discuss different answers to the same question to learn more, not to gain an extra point. He achieved a perfect score without being score-centric.”

When the National Honor Society member isn’t consumed with homework or a good book, he plays the French horn in the symphonic band, vies in UIL competitions and partakes in Latin Club.

“He’s diverse not only in his interests, but also in his abilities,” said Lehman. “He achieves at such a high level in so many different fields.”

Students are advised to complete practice tests and attend preparatory seminars to achieve high SAT scores; however, Van Eimeren’s preparation consisted of getting some extra sleep and eating breakfast.

Van Eimeren took his first SAT exam in middle school as part of the Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP), a national service that develops the potential of academically gifted students. He scored 1280, an impressive mark considering that the average SAT score achieved at the high school level is about 1540.

“The big thing is that the test has changed so much in the last couple of years,” said Jackie Horras, principal of Health Careers. “Before, a perfect score was a 1600. Now that it’s a 2400, the way the test has expanded says a lot for what he’s been able to accomplish.”

Van Eimeren plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin, but has not set his ambitions on one field of study. “I’ll figure that out later,” he said. “I’m interested in everything in general and nothing in particular.”

When asked what he aspires to accomplish in the future, Van Eimeren joked, “I’m too old to say world domination, but if you were to ask me a few years ago, that would be my answer.”

The burning question for wondering minds is: “How does he do it?”

Van Eimeren explains: “It’s a combination of genetics, good nutrition, sleeping and reading a lot, learning the basic concepts of everything instead of memorizing stuff, and listening to good music.”