The term ‘academic weapon’ is one that is said and heard quite a bit, actually being one is not as common though, and takes a lot more work than probably expected.

Jimmy Chen is a senior this year at Wenatchee High School (WHS) and is a person most would consider an academic weapon.

Throughout his four years of school here, he has taken countless AP classes, such as AP Human Geography, AP US  History, AP Statistics, AP English Language, AP Comparative Government, AP Calculus and AP English Literature.

On top of these classes he has taken at WHS, he has also directed and self-studied a few classes. AP Physics I, AP Computer Science Principles and AP Pre Calculus.

These amount of classes as is should justify Chen’s role as an academic weapon, but to add to this list of accomplishments, Chen has received mainly a score of five on the AP tests.

When asked how he does it, Chen said, “Getting everything done starting early. If you are studying for tests, AP tests, or any standardized testing like the SAT and ACT, studying just a week ahead can work but if you study a month or even more, like I studied two-three months ahead, it gives you more of an advantage. You are able to figure out the test structure, which is important, along with other things you need to know for the test.”

To most, this would seem like a lot to figure out how to balance, but for Chen, it has become his normal.

“You just sacrifice a lot, you’re going to be doing a lot yourself, but for balance you have to take time away from other things, like breaks, so you don’t have to overwork yourself at normal times. It allows me to have more time during weekends and stuff like that,” Chen said. 

Putting in all this work, it is easy to tell that Chen is going to go far. He plans to attend a four-year university, probably research-based, and get an engineering degree.

Another senior that seems to have her academics on lock, is Rebecca  Henning.

Like Chen, she has taken many AP classes at WHS. She has taken AP Human Geography, AP Calculus, AP US  History, AP Computer Science, AP English Literature, AP Biology and AP Comparative Government.

On top of the classes at WHS Henning has also self and direct studied multiple AP classes consisting of AP Euro, AP  Environmental and AP Government.

She has also scored almost entirely fives on the AP tests.

The ways she has found to work best are, “I like taking practice tests and I practice writing out essay questions.”

Henning also has big plans for her future after WHS.

“I want to go to college for sure but I haven’t totally decided which college I want to go to,” Henning said.

Amelia McAllister is yet another academic weapon. Like both Henning and Chen, she has devoted lots of her time to her academic prowess.

“My sophomore year I took AP Comparative Government, AP Political Science, AP Human Geography. I also self studied AP Psychology. My Junior year I did AP US History, AP Statistics and AP English Language. This year I am currently in AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus AB and AP English Literature,” McAllister said.

Aside from one time she got a four on an exam, McAllister said she has gotten nothing but five’s.

Like the others, McAllister has found the most effective ways of studying for her.

“I think an important thing for studying is to make it a priority, I figure that once I start doing it it’s so much easier, if I spend a lot of time thinking about doing it, it makes doing it a lot harder,” McAllister said. 

When asked what she would recommend others to do, she said, “I think if you set your own personal goals, that should be able to guide you in doing the work that you do every day. I also think consistency is really important, doing a little  bit every day is worth a lot more than doing one thing all at once.”

McAllister also has big goals for her future, she plans to study international relations and focus on foreign languages.