Nate Miller is a Peachtree City resident and soon-to-be McIntosh alumni as a member of the Class of 2024. In the four years of Miller’s time at McIntosh he has made his mark through winning awards, his involvement in theater and by being himself. With a long list of eleven rigorous awards in between the seventh and twelfth grades, how does he do it?

Q: What does a normal day look like to you?

A: “Extremely briefly, on the typical school day, I’m up around 7:30 A.M. and asleep before 11 P.M.. Even weekends, I don’t stay up much later and rarely sleep past 9 P.M.. Beyond school, I am almost always doing something. Most of the year, it’s rehearsal for whatever performance is coming up or practice for cross country. On days where I don’t have something major, I usually still have club meetings or work or some sort of volunteer event. Typically, I take Saturdays as my day to do nothing and Sunday is my catch up on work slash actually-do-my-dual-enrollment-work day,” Miller said.

Q: How do you stay motivated?

A: “I do a lot of what I enjoy to do, and even if there is something I enjoy less, I seek out something appealing about the class or activity,” Miller said.

Q: What did the college search look like for you?

A: “Honestly, it was a lot of my mom saying “Do you want to go look at this school?” and me responding “sure,” There wasn’t anything in particular that I was searching for. The only big requirement was that I didn’t want a school “too far,” away by which I pretty much meant not the west coast,” Miller said.

Q: What made you decide on your school?

A: “Process of elimination. Of the six schools I applied to, one was a safety so that was out. Purdue and North Carolina State were less appealing based on location, especially when I realized that Purdue’s Indianapolis campus was not the main one. Indianapolis hosts “Gen Con”, the biggest board game convention in North America. Really, I was looking between staying in Georgia or returning to Virginia for school. Comparing the engineering experience at Virginia Tech to University of Valdosta, I preferred the program at Virginia Tech. At this point I was down to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. This past year, I have been dual enrolled at Georgia Tech, so I have a better idea of how the university functions. After a number of visits to both schools, I decided on Georgia Tech. In addition to being closer and having certain business connections since its in Atlanta, Georgia Tech seems to want me more as well. I have been called by a professor, direct messaged by a student, and received a letter from an alumnus,” Miller said. 

Q: What struggles have you had academically?

A: “English. I really don’t enjoy writing. I frequently save my essay writing for last. At this point, I don’t know if I write better late on Sunday nights, or I just have never tried to write any other time. My Georgia Tech dual also took some adjusting since I didn’t have a classroom with a teacher and other students five days a week. I think of my hardest year academically as being either sixth or eleventh grade. Through the program I was in throughout sixth grade, I developed time management abilities that I feel have helped me manage all of my work since then. Junior year was challenging because of the number of advanced placement classes I took,” Miller said.

Q: How do you manage your time productively?

A: “I find that I know I overbook my schedule, so I use all of my free time to stay on top of my work. The big tool I use is notion which allows me to merge a to-do list and calendar in their database, so I can easily track what I need to do and when I can get it done,” Miller said.

Q: What made you join the theater program?

A: “In elementary school, I participated in Destination Imagination which is a competition that mixes technology, performance and creativity. Then, in sixth grade, I auditioned for the One Act and have been performing since,” Miller said.

Q: Are there any things you wish you had done in your time at McIntosh?

A: “There isn’t anything major that I can think of. I never went to a football game, though at the same time, I have no interest in football and I’m not the biggest fan of extremely loud events,” Miller said.

Q: What are your goals for the future?

A: “I don’t really know. In college, I definitely plan to try some internships and maybe participate in the Disney College Program. I also hope to design a board game at some point,” Miller said.

Q: Do you have anything else you’d like to say?

A: “(That will) come to me about three days too late,” Miller said.