Positivity: A Perfect ACT Score, and He Didn’t Even “Study”?

The headline is shaky, because it makes you think he just showed up for the test and got by on talent alone. Far from it (HT HappyNews; bolds are mine):

He didn’t need a bowl of Wheaties, a late night of crammed studying or a prep course.

Yeah, Carson Van Sanford aced the ACT college entrance exam and didn’t even study.

At band practice last week, Carson, 17, talked about his perfect score.

“I didn’t do any preparation,” he said. “It was the Saturday of spring break so I was pretty sure I’d do horrible on it.”

Carson did far from horrible. In fact, the Henry Clay High School senior was the only student in Kentucky to get a perfect score on the college entrance exam. And he was one of 32 people nationally to achieve a 36 on the April test. The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science. Each test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and the final score is the average of all four tests.

“I was happy to see that things worked out for me,” he said. “In terms of my college selection it’s great. It gives me a few more options.”

But in regard to his mind-set and the rest of his life, he said that perfect score won’t have all that much impact.

Carson takes four Advanced Placement classes, is part of the National Honor Society, and is involved in a community service club. But his passion is music. He plays guitar in the high school’s jazz band and euphonium in the school’s regular band.

“He’s really one of our strongest leaders because of the way he treats people,” said Bill Kite, assistant band director. “The first thing I noticed about Carson … he’s probably the hardest worker I’ve ever seen. It’s a self-motivation you can’t really teach.”