Jason Petty and Marisa Campain:

1. How many AP classes have you taken in high school?
J: I have completed five AP classes thus far in high school. By the end of this year, I’ll have completed twelve different AP courses.
M: I have completed ten AP classes including Chemistry, Biology, Composition and Literature, Language and Composition, Spanish, Human Geography, Studio Art, Environmental Science, and Calculus AB and BC.

2. What keeps you motivated to keep working hard?
J: For taking AP classes, a lot of the motivation stems from being able to be more
flexible with my future college schedule and major possibilities. For things in general, I really do love what I do and can’t imagine not doing it.
M: I really like to learn. It is very interesting to me. I get very excited about school especially science and math because I love the challenge.

3. How does it feel to be up for valedictorian?
J: It feels rewarding, I guess. It’s certainly an honor, but I’ve gained so much more out of high school that I won’t look back on it as the greatest thing that happened to me in high school. I’ve been really lucky in how school has gone for me.
M: It’s exciting in theory, but not a big deal at the graduation ceremony. Because of this, I decided to reprioritize because I would have to take five AP classes and college courses to catch up with Jason Petty. It is not fun to overload myself like I did sophomore and junior year and I just want to have fun in high school because it was miserable before. I
still want to take hard classes but I’ve put it into perspective and I’m not obsessing about valedictorian anymore.

4.What else are you involved in at high school?
J: Within high school, I have participated in forensics, mock trial, knowledge bowl, model UN, National Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta. In the community, I’ve volunteered with Habitat for Humanity through my church and I’ve worked as an intern on a political campaign. Currently, I am president of debate and varsity captain for knowledge bowl as well as treasurer for both Mu Alpha Theta and NHS. Last year I was team captain for mock trial.

M: At FRHS, I have been involved with Cross Country at the Varsity level, Key Club as the Vice President, National Honor Society as the President, Math Honors Society, Art Honors Society, and Track and Field. In the community I volunteer at the hospital and also participate in a Spanish reading group because I love teaching people. I also love to
ride my horse 3 to 4 times a week.

5. What has been your most challenging AP course?
J: All of my AP classes have been rigorous in their own ways. The hardest test was probably AP US History due to the breadth of information on the test. Another difficult class was AP Chemistry due to the sheer amount of course material needed to be covered in the classes.
M: I can’t pick my most challenging class. AP Chemistry and AP Calculus BC were my favorites but I had to work my butt off.

6. How did you do in the class at the end?
J: I did well enough I guess (Petty laughs).
M: I did well. I received an A in all of them and I got a 5 on both of the tests.

7. Why was this course so challenging?
J: It was challenging just in that both classes have so much material within them that it can be overwhelming to have to absorb it all for a test.
M: There was a lot of material to learn and math is harder for me to pick up. Calculus BC was very abstract math and I’m not used to thinking in that way. Chemistry was just a lot of information to absorb.

8. Have you taken any courses at CSU or Front Range?
J: I took a concurrent enrollment Spanish class through Front Range. It was a good class; I’m glad I did it.
M: I’ve taken two Spanish classes and a Lit and translation in the past and I’m planning on taking a Lit and Culture class at CSU this year. It was hard to take these classes with scheduling but it turned out to be very fun and I got a lot of college credit.

9. What was your intent when beginning all of these rigorous classes?
J: My goal was largely to pursue a variety of subject areas in order to kind of find out what I want to be when I grow up and establish what sort of abilities I have in varying fields of study, as well as gain as much college credit as possible.
M: I always say yes to everything so it was only natural for me to take every hard class.

10. How did taking these classes hinder your balance in everything else in high school?
J: Honestly, I have no idea how I’ve done it so far. I hope I’ve done a good enough job to create lasting friendships beyond high school because I absolutely love my friends. They make it a lot easier.
M: It’s hard to balance friends and having fun because I get obsessed with all the
activities. But I have learned to set aside time to do nothing and hang out.