'Marching to His Own Drum' All the Way To Ivy League

After Dylan Manfredi finished playing some songs on his guitar for his sister’s sweet 16 birthday party last December, she came up on stage and made a short speech. “She said ‘I love my brother,’” Manfredi recalled. “’And he just got accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.’”

“I was like, this is not funny,” said Manfredi, who was pretty sure he wouldn’t make it, he said. “I was like, this is a cruel joke. I didn’t realize U Penn made their decisions this early this year.”

And yet, it was true. Manfredi, 17, who applied to University of Pennsylvania early decision, is the first Barnegat High School senior to get into one of the most selective Ivy League schools in the country, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and well known today for its science and humanities programs.

Manfredi, who plans to study science, describes himself as an “avid fan of Benjamin Franklin,” adding that he has a list of Franklin’s 13 life virtues posted on the wall.

Ever since the first graduating class of 2008, the Barnegat High School has been placing its graduates in top colleges across the nation, including Cornell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, John Hopkins University, the College of New Jersey, Penn State and Rutgers University. Around 40 percent of Barnegat High School graduates go on to higher education, according to Principal Dr. Joe Saxton.

Saxton said Manfredi is the third Barnegat High School graduate to get into an Ivy League university in the high school's short history.

Music is a big part of Manfredi's life. A guitarist and singer, he likes ska, alternative, rock – pretty much anything, he said. He plays both original music and popular cover songs from artists, such as The Script, Bruno Mars, Tom Petty and Billy Joel, among many others. He tried playing with bands, but right now he is flying solo, performing local venues all around Southern Ocean County, from Daddy-O’s on Long Beach Island to Southern Ocean Medical Center “Music Is Therapy,” where the goal of Manfredi’s music is not only to entertain the audience, but to aid in rehabilitation and recovery.

Manfredi is as unabashed about his passion for music as he is about his love of physics and calculus.

“I love all subjects,” said Manfredi, who over his high school career has been involved in National Honor Society, the high school Optimist Club (a public service group meant to spread cheer and good will through the high school and the local community), creative writing contests and activities, and the math league, among others.

“It is very much fun,” Manfredi says, of his involvement with math league, “contrary to popular opinion.”

While his peers might take advantage of a free period, Manfredi said, he would try and talk to the teacher, to see if he can squeeze some more learning whenever he can.

His favorite part of high school life, Manfredi said, “absolutely has to be the learning.”

"It’s the purpose of high school,” he said. “Though some people may think otherwise.”

Barnegat High School principal Dr. Saxton, Manfredi’s mentor in many ways during his high school years, describes the young man as someone who “definitely walks to his own drum.

“He is a person of high integrity,” Saxton said, listing Manfredi’s qualities. “He is always putting himself out there. He’s got a good sense of humor.”

When asked what combination of factors led to Manfredi’s outstanding academic success, Manfredi credited his family.

“My parents always supported me in everything I did; supported me, but never pushed me,” he said.

Saxton, on the other hand, said it was the student himself who made great things happen.

“He is intelligent, has a drive to learn, and not settled with just doing okay,” Saxton said. As far as the high school’s role in Manfredi’s achievement, Saxton said, “I don’t like taking credit for the things that [Manfredi] has done. But,” Saxton added, “we create an environment where students like him are able to reach their best potential.”

“I sort of like the environment (in Barnegat High School),” Manfredi said. “Everyone can kind of explore; you can choose your own direction. Personally, I felt challenged academically – good challenged.”

The bottom line, Manfredi said: “Barnegat High School got me where I needed to go.”

Manfredi, who moved to Barnegat from Northern New Jersey just before he started school, and always lived in a small-town environment, is excited about the next stage of his life, which will get him out of “the boonies,” as he put it.

"I am ready for Philly,” Manfredi said. “It will get me out of my comfort zone.”