NATCHEZ — For Samuel Freiberger a Cathedral High School senior, music, science and literature have always been at the top of his list of passions, he said, and Freiberger has received plenty of accolades in each.

Recently, Freiberger won the Golden Key Award in the annual Mississippi Scholastic Writing Awards competition for his critical essay about the influence of fate and free will in “Oedipus Rex,” by Sophocles.

“It was called ‘Can I Fix This,’ which I thought was a fun title because he could not,” Freiberger said, explaining that by the time Oedipus had heard about a prophecy stating he would murder his father and marry his mother, he had already unwittingly fulfilled it.

“It’s a very dark play,” he said, “which most of the plays we’ve read this year were very dark. It’s the ones that shock you that have the biggest impact.”

Freiberger said he plans to attend an awards ceremony on April 14 at the Eudora Welty House and Garden in Jackson.

Freiberger said writing the essay was easy thanks to a very skilled advanced English literature and composition teacher, Jean Biglane.

“Mrs. Biglane made it easy,” he said. “I mean, her class was hard but by the end, you get so good at what you do.”

Freiberger has always had a passion for reading, he said. Among his favorite novels are Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” he said.

Freiberger is the son of Terry and Katie Freiberger and is a member of Cathedral’s Science Olympiad team, Key Club, tennis team, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Science Quest and, Freiberger said, he also enjoys playing classical music on the piano.

Freiberger said he is still waiting on his acceptance letters before deciding what university to attend, but he has a clear view of where his passion for science and literature might take him.

Freiberger said he plans to pursue his doctorate degree in physics and become a researcher in that field, making new discoveries.