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Simons is a graduate of Hilton Head High School, with a 2024 graduating class of 307 students. He was one of 25 students enrolled in the high school’s international baccalaureate program.

He was a member of the school golfing team, too.

“I’m not good, but I played,” he said.

Simons is excited by Duke’s diverse academic and social environment.

“I know that just from talking to people that Duke is made up of so many people from different areas and different cultures,” he said. “When I did the DukeEngage Gateway, my roommate was from Kenya, which was kind of awesome.”

Simons was an eighth-grader when he began volunteering at Bayshore at Hilton Island, an assisted living complex, where he helps residents with their electronic devices, including televisions, phones, tablets, laptops and computers. He was hired as a paid employee in 2022.

Simons also has volunteered the past two years with Pockets Full of Sunshine, a nonprofit that provides services and activities for adults with disabilities. He builds birthday boxes that are delivered to area food banks.

Simon said he’s motivated and knows how to get where he’s going.

And he describes himself as “super patient.”

That patience, he said, “came about through working at a retirement home for two years with people who ask me the same question every week and expect different answers.”