Elizabeth Lee
Great achievement is nothing new to Germantown High; however, sometimes students like Junior Apurva Kanneganti surprise the school.
Kanneganti is a member of the school’s International Baccalaureate program and has had countless accomplishments such as a two year Germantown Cable Quiz Champion as well as the IB Sophomore of the Year. A recent addition to her list of achievements includes receiving a 36, the highest score available, on the ACT.
Since Kanneganti had taken the test two times before receiving a 36, she was familiar with the ropes.
"Practice a lot. Don't slack off. The major thing that helped me out a lot is timing yourself,” said Kanneganti. “I know a lot people just sit there and do practice problems, but getting into that mode where you go, 'Okay I have 30 minutes to do all of this,’ and double checking prepares you a lot because it's more of what it's going to be like on testing day. So time yourself."
However, not all the credit can be given to Kanneganti’s experience. Motivation is also a key characteristic for high achievement.
"I'm one of those people who think that if you don't push yourself, no one can push you to become better. So even with all these tiger moms, I don't think it really works…And I usually do push myself. I try to push off that my parents are really strict but they're actually not. I have extremely high expectations and when I fail to meet those expectations, I'm really disappointed in myself. So I push myself to the limit,” said Kanneganti.
Having a solid foundation for what Kanneganti was trying to achieve also aided her to her goal. A positive atmosphere and support from her parents was advantageous.
"Well I don't really like being told what to do. That's my kind of personality. They kind of create an atmosphere for me to do well. They reward me if I do well and if I do bad they tell me to do better, but they're not really hard on me,” said Kanneganti. “I'm definitely very self-motivated, but they're very supportive of me. They're not like, 'You need to study. You need to do two hours of SAT today, etc.' It's more of background support help system. They want me to do well and I usually do well, so it works out."
Kanneganti is a prime example of a student who has the drive to achieve her goals and move forward on the road to success.
“If you don't have self-motivation, then you're not going to get anywhere,” said Kanneganti.
Great achievement is nothing new to Germantown High; however, sometimes students like Junior Apurva Kanneganti surprise the school.
Kanneganti is a member of the school’s International Baccalaureate program and has had countless accomplishments such as a two year Germantown Cable Quiz Champion as well as the IB Sophomore of the Year. A recent addition to her list of achievements includes receiving a 36, the highest score available, on the ACT.
Since Kanneganti had taken the test two times before receiving a 36, she was familiar with the ropes.
"Practice a lot. Don't slack off. The major thing that helped me out a lot is timing yourself,” said Kanneganti. “I know a lot people just sit there and do practice problems, but getting into that mode where you go, 'Okay I have 30 minutes to do all of this,’ and double checking prepares you a lot because it's more of what it's going to be like on testing day. So time yourself."
However, not all the credit can be given to Kanneganti’s experience. Motivation is also a key characteristic for high achievement.
"I'm one of those people who think that if you don't push yourself, no one can push you to become better. So even with all these tiger moms, I don't think it really works…And I usually do push myself. I try to push off that my parents are really strict but they're actually not. I have extremely high expectations and when I fail to meet those expectations, I'm really disappointed in myself. So I push myself to the limit,” said Kanneganti.
Having a solid foundation for what Kanneganti was trying to achieve also aided her to her goal. A positive atmosphere and support from her parents was advantageous.
"Well I don't really like being told what to do. That's my kind of personality. They kind of create an atmosphere for me to do well. They reward me if I do well and if I do bad they tell me to do better, but they're not really hard on me,” said Kanneganti. “I'm definitely very self-motivated, but they're very supportive of me. They're not like, 'You need to study. You need to do two hours of SAT today, etc.' It's more of background support help system. They want me to do well and I usually do well, so it works out."
Kanneganti is a prime example of a student who has the drive to achieve her goals and move forward on the road to success.
“If you don't have self-motivation, then you're not going to get anywhere,” said Kanneganti.