Gabriel J. Berbig looks like your average 17-year-old senior, standing at a lanky 6’1” with a mischievous grin, only those that know him would be able to tell you of all the achievements and accomplishments he has from his four years in high school.

Berbig maintains membership in Key Club, National Honor Society and Robotics.  He recently traveled to California to compete in a national robotics competition.

This year, he is taking AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Psychology and several engineering courses. Despite the heavy workload, Berbig is able to maintain a 3.8 GPA and says he still has time to “chill with my homies almost every day.”

Senior Tommy Chon attested to this, and said, “I don’t know how he does it.  I barely see him doing any homework, but it’s always done.  Gabe’s always able to hang out and have some fun.  He has some amazing time-management skills.”

Even though he began high school at Dimond, for the 2012-13 school year, the Berbigs moved to Newport, Washington.  While there, Berbig followed a different curriculum, and when he moved back to Alaska in the fall of 2013, he had to take several online classes to catch up.

“I ended up taking Alaska Studies online right before the start of junior year and was put in the sophomore US History class.  There were a few more annoying classes I had to pass on my own time, but living away for a year was definitely worth it.  I was able to experience a totally different kind of city and people.  School was more or less the same, but way easier down there,” said Berbig.

Berbig will be returning there this fall to begin his degree in mechanical engineering while studying at the University of Washington.

Senior Kelson Denton, a close friend, said, “I’ve known Gabe since we were young kids.  We’ve always loved doing outdoor activities like skiing and single-tracking at Kincaid Park.”

Berbig is very involved in the robotics community at Dimond.

“For the last four years, Gabe’s had engineering with me, so we’ve built a lot of cool projects together.  He is one of the smartest guys I know and I hope we stay in touch after high school,” said Kyle Stone, senior.

Berbig has worked adamantly mowing lawns and doing landscaping for people around town for years, but this summer, he is working at Crow Creek Mine in Girdwood.

“Yeah, as much as I love lugging a lawnmower around everywhere, I am almost 18, and want more independence and more of a real job.  This summer, I’ll get both because I will be living in a cabin on the mine’s property.  The job itself is a lot of the same type of work–lawn care and hard labor–but I’ll also be teaching people to pan for gold, helping with tours and whatever else needs to be done,” said Berbig.

Berbig sees himself working somewhere in the field of engineering, likely mechanical,  at a firm in the next ten years, preferably in a state similar to Alaska or Washington.