Exceptional Saint Anselm student receives full scholarships to three top Brooklyn schools

Saint Anselm Catholic Academy has a gifted student in a 14-year-old Christian Deem, graduating in just a few weeks.

Deem, who moved to Bay Ridge from Pittsburgh in 2010, started his academic career at Saint Anselm during the fifth grade and has excelled since, receiving stellar grades and getting involved in several extracurricular activities.

During this exciting and eventful time in his life, Deem understandably has mixed emotions. “I’m excited and nervous and a little sad,” he said. “I’m excited because I’m getting older and will be able to do more things. I’m also worried about the challenges high school may bring and sad because I’ll be leaving friends at my old school.”

Deem’s hard work, which included countless hours of studying, have led to plenty of impressive accolades. Not only was he accepted to some of Brooklyn’s top high schools, he received scholarships to attend three of them.

“I felt proud that after all my hard work from fifth through eighth grade, I accomplished my goal, which was to succeed in my studies I am happy I was able to do that.”

Though he had enticing offers, Deem chose Xavier High School as the next stop in his academic endeavors. He will attend the school on full scholarship. “I found out they wanted me there,” he said. “I was also part of the Higher Achievement Program (HAP) there. I learned a lot about the school and I realized that I could fit in and do well there. I’m looking forward to succeeding and just trying my best like I did in St. Anselm and showing them what I can do.”

During Deem’s time at HAP last summer, he was able to attend classes, play sports and go on field trips. “It was a lot of fun,” he said.

Although he has excelled in all of his subjects, Deem’s favorite is mathematics. “I enjoy math a lot,” he said. “With it, I feel like it’s always definitive. There’s always a right answer. In other classes, it’s about choosing the best answer.”

He plans to use his skills in math in a future career. “When I grow up, I want to be some sort of engineer. I’m not sure what yet. I just want to solve problems for the world,” Deem said. Part of that desire comes from one of his biggest role models, his mother. “She was a mechanical engineer and I saw how great she did, both at her job and in life. I wanted to emulate that and inspire to be like her.”

Deem is well-versed in many activities outside the classroom as well. At St. Anselm, Deem played the drums in the school band and was a member of the chess club. He also played baseball and soccer. When attending Xavier, he hopes to continue some of those activities as well as join the track team.

No matter what happens in Deem’s bright future, he’ll always look back fondly at his time at the Bay Ridge school. “I had a great time,” he said. “It’s been wonderful. I’ve learned a lot and will always have great memories of being with my peers and teachers.”