By Emmanuel Johnson

Recently, 8 students at Galileo were awarded for their academics by the College Board National Recognition Program: Annabeth Shadrick received the Rural-Small Town Recognition and School Recognition Award. The Rural-Small Town Recognition Award criteria require a GPA of at least 3.3, along with passing 2 or more AP exams in the 8th, 9th, or 10th grade. Another way to be eligible is having a PSAT score higher than 90% of other students from rural areas and small towns in the state.

The School Recognition Award is given for having amazing grades and scoring in the top 10% on the PSAT at your school. Brayden West obtained the First Generation Award, which is given to students who are on track and plan to go to a 4-year university, and whose parents haven’t received a college degree, making them the “First generation”.

There are also 6 more students who received awards: Cole Gauldin received the School Recognition Award; Kunj Patel was given the Rural Small-Town Recognition Award, Samantha Van Opstal obtained both the Rural Small-Town Recognition Award and the School Recognition Award; Talha Ata got the First Generation Award, Rural Small-Town Generation Award, and School Recognition Award; and Raymond Gao received the Rural Small-Town Recognition Award.

Getting a recognition award from the College Board sounds like a big deal, and for those 8 students, it definitely was. However, when asked about their high school experiences and aspirations, their responses showed that the award isn’t really the most important thing they gained.

For Annabeth Shadrick, the recognition award was a great reminder of how much work she has put in throughout high school. She has never had a grade below 94, yet even she admits that she doubts herself “all the time, every day”. From these experiences, she realized how valuable it is to prioritize things and stop procrastinating.

Brayden West also knows what it feels like to struggle. His sophomore GPA was, in his words, “cooked”. Instead of letting that overcome him, he started applying himself more, and his grades took off. His advice to the underclassmen is also just as straightforward: “Be yourself, don’t overthink it”.

For some others, high school was about stepping outside of their comfort zone in order to truly see what they can achieve. Kunj Patel became more involved in his school community and learned through IB to push himself, to exceed even his expectations. Samantha Van Opstal took that even further by becoming the youngest coach in the 30-year history of girls on the run. Meanwhile, Talha Ata became FBLA president after 3 years of dedication.

Nelson Showalter also discovered during the rigorous IB program that he was capable of much more than he thought; he just had to take action. “Always shoot your shot, because you don’t know if you’ll make it,” he says. Cole Gauldin found interest in psychology, while Raymond Gao discovered that sometimes persistence pays off, especially when it comes to getting teachers to answer your questions.

So, what exactly am I getting at here? Well… even if everyone here has different experiences and viewpoints, they seem to all agree on one thing that matters most: high school is more than just grades and work, because it’s also about figuring out who you are, what you can achieve, and how you take action.