Whiz Kid: Alex Vogler

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Alex Vogler, 18

School: North High School Class of 2011

Accomplishments: Alex racked up a series of major academic and athletic achievements prior to graduation. He completed his high school career in the top 2 percent of his class, was one of 13 boys named to the Illinois High School Association's 2010-11 All-State Academic Team, was named to the Academic All-Conference Team for basketball in his final two seasons (he was captain of the varsity team senior year)  and also was selected for the Chicago Fire First Team All-State Academic soccer team.

Key to Awesomeness: With a full schedule of honors and AP classes and as a member of North's soccer and basketball teams, plus the U-18 Roadrunners traveling soccer team (which traveled to such major competitions as the National Championship, the Dallas Cup and the Valencia (Spain) Cup, Alex quickly learned to manage the demands on his time and energy.

"I learned pretty early in my high school career that I needed to learn how to manage my time. What was most important in this is prioritizing and learning to work quickly and efficiently," he said. "I found it very important to only focus on school work while doing school work and only focus on sports while playing and practicing sports. I found that focusing on one thing at a time helped me get the most out of anything I did, and allowed me to excel."

As the youngest of three brothers, Alex found competition on the home front to be brotherly, but not excessive. "I didn't feel like I had to match their achievements at all actually," he said of brothers Nathan and Drew. "They are both very supportive of me and wish to see me succeed at all I do. Of course, in anything we do there's always brotherly competition, but I never felt pressured to match them."

Alex is following his brothers (as well as his father, Greg, and grandfather) to Purdue University, where he'll major in chemical engineering with an eye toward a future law degree. Although he was accepted to Notre Dame and Northwestern, in the end he chose to stick with family tradition. 

"Ultimately, I've grown up as Purdue fan, and it had everything I was looking for in a college, so it was a rather simple choice," he said.

As for continuing his sports career at Purdue, Alex is looking to stay as active as possible and plans to participate in many intramural sports and activities. "I will also try to get involved in Purdue's radio department, and try to get my own radio show, as I have done in high school."