Brittney Jaeger

Being able to “think outside the box” can have its rewards.

50,000 of them, even. Just ask Brittney Jaeger.

The Steele High School senior is the recipient of a $50,000 scholarship from St. Mary’s University after her participation in this summer’s Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (PREP) at St. Mary’s.

Jaeger completed her third year of the annual seven-week program Aug. 1. Started in 1979 by Dr. Manuel Berriozabal, PREP promotes abs-tract reasoning and critical thinking skills in students, combining their prior learning with new advanced concepts for solving problems that are hands-on and relevant, according to the PREP Web site (www.prep-usa.org).

Jaeger, the daughter of Sean and Clovina Jaeger of Cibolo, first enrolled in the program the summer following her freshman year at Steele “to see if I’d like engineering,” she said. The program rotates between local colleges, she said, as her two previous years saw PREP classes at Incarnate Word College and the University of Texas-San Antonio.

The selection pool is tight – incoming students must have at least a 97.5 grade point average. PREP literature says participants “are achieving students who have demonstrated a potential to be successful.” Jaeger’s involvement at Steele certainly puts her in that realm – she’s currently ranked 20th in her class with a 98.7 GPA, is president of Key Club, is a member of National Honor Society, plays varsity soccer, is a member of the school’s Gifted and Talented program, and is Student Council chairperson for charities.

“I like math a lot, and I enjoy science, so this program made it easier for me,” Jaeger said. The first and second years of the program are more hands-on, with students tasked to build cars, rockets and bridges. This summer’s courses focused more on technical writing, problem-solving and statistics, she said.

But critical thinking skills seem to be Jaeger’s specialty. She recalled one test this summer where her “outside the box” abilities came into play.

“We had this test, and there was this problem on it … I worked it several times, and I figured out that the problem couldn’t be solved,” she said. “So I went to the teacher and showed her the problem.”

Turns out Jaeger was right, the question had no answer.

Upon completion of the program on Aug. 1, a “graduation” ceremony was held where students received appropriate accolades and any “financial” recognition. Jaeger said she “had no idea at all” she was going to be named the recipient of the $50,000 scholarship. “I was surprised, it was so exciting,” she added.

And while the $50,000 is definitely enticing, Jaeger is not closing her options just yet. “I’m also thinking about Texas A&M for my first two years; they have a nationally ranked engineering school. My ultimate goal is MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the number one engineering school.”

If her academic prowess and her studious nature give any indication of her abilities to tackle engineering, then MIT may as well ship an admissions form her way.