Whiz Kid of the Week: Daniel C. Liem

In our weekly column Whiz Kids, Arcadia Patch singles out younger Arcadians who are amazing in some way.

We are asking for your nominations for Whiz Kids, so please suggest a special Arcadia kid, teen or youth group in the comment box below. Read more about nominations .

And without further ado, we present this week's Whiz Kid:

• Whiz Kid's Name: Daniel C. Liem

• Whiz Kid's School/Church/Community Center:

• Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Daniel is involved in multiple extracurricular activities inside and outside the classroom, including Pre-Med Club, Physics Team, ASB (Associated Student Body) Government, Eagle Scout of Arcadia Troop 104 - Boy Scouts of America, and many more. “Arcadia High School offers a wide variety of activities both academic and extracurricular, and taking advantage of it has made my high school life fun, and exciting,” Liem told Patch.

• Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: “My parents always remind me that the happiest people are those who know how to keep their life in balance and enjoy what they do, whatever it may be,” Liem says. “Although I enjoy my academic world, sometimes I need to escape from my school work to keep my sanity in balance. While academic courses stimulate my intellectuality, my extracurricular activities allow me to enjoy social life and help me develop my character as a complete individual.

Now a few more interesting facts about this week's Whiz Kid:

• Daniel will attend Stanford in the Fall and plans to major in Biology

• Daniel has ambitious goals. “My dream career is to become a medical doctor or a physician-scientist,” Liem said. “I am particularly interested in becoming a Urology or Nephrology Surgeon, dealing with the removal of Urolithiasis (Kidney Stones) through Laparoscopic Surgery and/or dealing with kidney failures…. My ultimate goal is to help preserve lives and advance medical knowledge."

• In the sparse free time that he has, Daniel enjoys a variety of hobbies such as biking. His favorite bike route is a 70 mile long round-trip, starting from Arcadia to Seal Beach and back via the San Gabriel River Valley Route (next to the 605 Freeway).

• Liem is musically gifted and can play the guitar, piano and violin.

• Liem's not afraid to admit he's a tech geek. "I love playing with Apple products, Google networking and application systems," Liem says, "and tweaking/configuring computer system capabilities such as overclocking my Macbook and iMac."

• Favorite Book and Movie: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

• Favorite TV Show: House

• Daniel doesn’t mince words when he talks about the impact his parents have had on him. "I thank God for my parents, who are my role models without a doubt. They are my source of inspirations," Daniel says, admitting, "[w]ithout them, I would not be who I am today. Every step of my life journey has been led by their love, tireless teaching, and guidance."