Everyone who’s met Samuel Gegax ’25 knows about his love for music, and the time and effort he puts into his practice, having taken advantage of every opportunity presented to him over his four years at Jesuit High School Sacramento. 

At Jesuit, Sam has become the section lead in Jazz Band, the concertmaster in Symphonic Band, and the Woodland section leader in Marching Band. This year, he even made the prestigious California All-State Band on clarinet.

Sam’s dedication to the band program is seen by all his bandmates, including David Ramos ’25, who’s played alongside Sam for four years.

“[Sam] is always ready to do anything with the band,” David said. “He is always available to talk with or get help from. He is one of the most devoted students I have met, and he is always thinking about the future.”

Director of Music Mr. Michael Loya will miss Sam. His leadership and commitment to being a ‘Man for Others’ will be hard to replace.

“Musicianship is a huge[ly] team based activity, our music program especially” Mr. Loya said. “Sam follows being a ‘Man for Others’ which helps make our team work. You can’t ride on individual talent alone. To be a ‘Man for Others’ and to perfect the art of how you implement yourself in the team, but also how that implementation actually helps people around you to improve, I think Sam has gotten really good at this.”

Sam is proud of the success he has had at Jesuit, which he achieved through persistent dedication.

“In order to be successful you have to be willing to be patient but also be tenacious, even if it takes a long time you can’t give up on what you want to do, you just have to stick with it,” Sam said. “You have to have a good work ethic so even if you don’t have motivation to do something you can still do it. That’s what work ethic is and that’s what I learned I [needed] to be successful.”