Sam Mathew, a senior at Cupertino High School, started life as a self-proclaimed robotics kid: he had always enjoyed tinkering with things and learning how they worked. Thus, it made sense when he eventually became one of the leaders of Cupertino High School’s Robotics Team. On the other hand, Sam didn’t particularly enjoy public speaking and had rarely worked on small teams, which is why even he’s surprised that now, Future Business Leader of America Club (FBLA) —- an organization that connects business and education to develop student’s leadership — is one of his primary passions.
Truthfully, Sam admits now that he only joined FBLA because he wanted to combat his weaknesses head on. So his success was, in his words, #AccidentallyOnPurpose. Forcing himself to compete in FBLA’s American Enterprise Project meant he had to contact and interview government officials beyond the city council and teachers outside of his school district — which he initially struggled with due to the lack of responses from officials.
Thankfully, Mr. Hill, Cupertino High School’s business teacher, was there to help Sam develop.
“Mr. Hill has helped me improve on my soft skills in team management, communicating with others and ensuring the job gets done,” Sam said.
Eventually, Sam’s team submitted a 20 page paper about their project and was ranked 3rd among 100 competitors. They also had the opportunity to discuss with the congressional representative of California Ro Khanna about the application of their project outside of California.
More than that, Sam clearly prides himself on independent learning.
“When I take on a new challenge, I don’t always know how I’m gonna do it, so I just read and learn and try different things. I just try to find ways to make the goal come to life,” Sam said.
For now, Sam is content – he’ll be attending Carnegie Mellon University next year, where he plans to pursue a degree in electrical and computer engineering and potentially dual major in artificial intelligence. But he has important advice for other high school students:
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“Don’t over commit… If there are activities you like, then prioritize it and make sure others in the team know that you care. You can’t be everywhere at once.”
Sam E Mathew , 2025
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Teens of Bay Area 
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