2017 Academic All-Stars
2017
ALL-STAR FINALISTS
These students made the final round of judging for the 2017 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team.
WILLIAM DUKE Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
LAUREN BROOKE CAMPBELL Conway High School
JACK HENRY HILL Lakeside High School
BILLY ZEKE LAIRD Prairie Grove High School
RACHEL MILNES Nettleton High School
CLAY SCHULER Episcopal Collegiate
TAYLOR REYANNE TOOMBS Jacksonville High School
BRYCE COHEA AGE: 19 HOMETOWN: GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL: GREENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL PARENTS: MIKE AND ROBIN COHEA COLLEGE PLANS: UNIVERSITY OF TULSA OR VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, BIOLOGY
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hough he grew up landlocked, far from the deep blue sea, Greenwood High School standout Bryce Cohea knew from an early age that he wanted to be a marine biologist. To reach that goal, Bryce had to start early. “In the ninth grade,” he wrote in his Academic All-Stars essay, “I began planning out all my classes for the next four years. I wanted to graduate top of my class, and in order to do that I would need to take every advanced placement class and get an A in every class.” That’s exactly what he did, too, making nothing less than a perfect grade in every class for his entire high school career. With a 4.25 GPA and a rank of No. 1 in his class of 275, Bryce has volunteered extensively with the Salvation Army and collected shoes for the homeless; he helps unload trucks and stock shelves at the food bank at his church. A National Merit semifinalist, he also has the distinction of having scored the first perfect ACT score of 36 in Greenwood High School history. “I’ve honestly been a good test-taker,” he said. “The first time I took it, I got a 34. After that, I got the test back and I worked on whatever I missed. After a few more tries, I got a 36.” Bryce was still deciding on which university to attend when we spoke to him, but he definitely plans to study science. The subject has always interested him, he said. “I’m planning on majoring in biology and then specializing after that,” he said.
IMANI GOSSERAND AGE: 16 HOMETOWN: ROGERS HIGH SCHOOL: ROGERS HIGH SCHOOL PARENTS: JAMES AND HYESUN GOSSERAND COLLEGE PLANS: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE OR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, COMPUTER SCIENCE OR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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mani Gosserand has a journal in which she organizes the many moving parts of her life — competitive gymnastics, AP classes, computer science, Young Democrats, volunteering — into lists. Personal stuff is in there, too: bucket lists, remembrances. The journal combines the creative and the organized; it is problem-solving with an artful flare, which is how Imani operates. “I really like being able to create something of my own,” she said of computer science. At a camp at Stanford University, in California, her team won the competition to program a car. Imani, not surprisingly, is good at math: She learned multiplication at age 4 and went on to skip two
grades. Imani thinks schoolwork is fun. “We had a huge packet of homework problems we had to do over one of our breaks,” she said. “And no one else was excited about it except for me. I was like ‘Oh, I’m so excited to do all these problems!’ ” She brings that enthusiasm for problem-solving to bigger issues, as well. “I feel like there are so many opportunities for me because our world relies on technology, so I think I could go into any field,” she said. She’s excited to explore and see where she can help. “I want to meet people from around the world and hear different perspectives.”
SOPHIE PRICE AGE: 18 HOMETOWN: FORT SMITH HIGH SCHOOL: SOUTHSIDE HIGH PARENTS: CLAIRE PRICE AND SCOTT PRICE
BRANDON TRAN Nettleton High School
MAKYNZI WATSON-WILLIAMS Little Rock Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School
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APRIL 27, 2017
ARKANSAS TIMES
COLLEGE PLANS: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, POLITICAL SCIENCE
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rowing up, I would always argue with everybody,” Sophie Price said. Sometimes it was just to play devil’s advocate, but mostly, it was because Sophie wants to find the capital-t Truth. Some of this digging for truth is class: seven AP course just this year and 12 during her time in high school. But, some of it is also talking with people, discussing issues. “The best way to improve your
argument is to hear the counters, to hear the other side,” Sophie said, and often she is willing to be convinced. She wants to do the right thing; she believes in justice. Which is why after college at Vanderbilt on a full scholarship, she wants to field arguments as a judge. “My whole life I’ve followed this ideal that you have to do what’s right,” Sophie said. “I want to be a judge so I can kind of decide that.” Vanderbilt