A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

There are not many perfect things in this world, mostly because of our inability to objectively  measure perfection, but there is no arguing with the perfection of 36 out of a possible 36. That’s the score Liberty High School senior Joshua Burns received on his ACT exam, one of only eight perfect scores in the state of Colorado.

“I really don’t try to make a big deal out of my academic ability,” says 17-year-old Joshua. “I spend a lot of time doing other things than school: drumming, playing sports recreationally, hanging out with friends, working.”

“He’s pretty humble about it all. He’s just naturally that way,” says mother Tamara Burns, who thinks she was more emotional than Joshua about it. “I was very excited when I opened up that envelope … Both my husband and were really proud of him and know that this could open so many doors for him.”

A perfect score on a standardized test is a difficult feat. In fact, many students take practice exams, attend study sessions or hire tutors in order to get a good score on either the ACT or SAT, the two exams colleges utilize in their application process. But for Joshua, simply paying attention in the course of his normal school day was the only preparation he needed.

“It’s just a test over basically everything people learn in school regularly,” he explains, admitting that he finds a lot of the busywork in his regular classes unchallenging. “I definitely like some classes, like the physics and calculus classes that I’m in right now. I don’t care for a lot classes where it seems my time is wasted. I feel I could teach myself a lot more stuff on my own sometimes.”

It’s likely that attitude ― learning how to think critically for one’s self rather than focusing on memorization ― that allowed Joshua to test so well, lack of preparation notwithstanding.

“I’m very analytical and think of why things are the way they are. Instead of memorizing, I look at how things work and that can apply in any situation, so that probably is a big bonus,” he says. Joshua is eagerly anticipating college, where he plans on studying engineering, likely electrical engineering.

“I’m looking forward to a new environment, different than high school. I think (college) will play to my strengths,” he says.

And with a perfect ACT score under his belt, it’s likely college admission boards everywhere will be looking forward to him, too.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Woodmen Edition on Oct. 16, 2009.