Academic All-State 2019: Regional standouts from Central Iowa
The central region includes Boone, Dallas, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jasper, Marshall, Polk, Story and Webster counties.
► PHOTOS: Meet the top state and regional students
► ACADEMIC ALL-STATE 2019:All the nominees since 2010
► TOP 10 STUDENTS STATEWIDE FOR 2019
► 2019 REGIONAL STANDOUTS:Central | Northwest | Northeast | Southwest | Southeast
► WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK: Don’t see your school represented and want to be included in 2020? Have a question or comment about the selections or the rest of the section? Contact section editor Lucas Grundmeier at lgrundme@dmreg.com or 515-284-8142.
Magnus Anderson
Ballard
ACT score: 1550
Class rank: 4 of 135
GPA: 4.108
College: Iowa State University
Major: Software Engineering and Electrical Engineering
What are your life goals? To create something that will significantly help others. Whether it is making a dangerous task safer, solving an important technical limitation, or making software that thousands of people use, I hope to improve their own lives and make things easier and better for them.
What challenges have shaped you, and how? When I was 11 years old, my mother passed away. For over five years, she had battled cancer, and it finally overcame her. Realizing I would never see her again was devastating, but I eventually healed and let the pain shape who I was. But no matter what I do, her memory is something that will always stay with me.
Best high school memory: My best high school memory would be the chamber choir party we threw in late 2018. The chamber choir has some of the best singers and brightest minds at Ballard, and it was fun to hang out with them.
My favorite place in Iowa: My own house, because of the tranquility it affords me. There are few places where you can go and read a book for five hours and remain detached from the commotion of daily life.
My day is not complete until I ... have learned something new. Every day, I want to build and expand on my previous knowledge and expand it into new areas I may not have considered before.
Camden Arnold
West Des Moines Dowling Catholic
ACT score: 35
GPA: 4.50
College: Undecided
Major: Chemistry or Pre-Medicine
What are your life goals? I plan to attend medical school after college to become a physician. I have really enjoyed learning about the field of medicine as a member of the health sciences group at my school, as well as through shadowing doctors and volunteering at Mercy Hospital. I am not entirely sure what specialty I would like to go into, but at the moment I am especially interested in anesthesiology, surgery, and emergency medicine. Wherever I end up, I know I will always be excited by how the human body works and what is necessary when things go wrong.
What challenges have shaped you, and how? One of my biggest challenges in high school has been trying to balance my time. With all of the activities and rigorous classes I am in, it often becomes difficult to find time to settle down. Even if it sometimes means missing out on a little sleep, I have managed over the years to make sure I have time to spend with my friends and family. It can get hard at times, but I definitely think my busy schedule has helped me become more disciplined and driven to succeed.
Best high school memory: Working with a group of my friends to provide a family in need with a special Christmas as part of the Christmas Baskets program at my school.
My favorite place in Iowa: The University of Iowa pool. I have so many great memories swimming there, from swimming at club state meets as a little kid to swimming in the high school state meet my senior year.
My day is not complete until I ... have spent some time investigating something new I’m interested in. Whether it’s a current event or even related to something I see on TV, my curiosity kicks in and I love to find out more.
Zachary Buhman
Ankeny Centennial
ACT score: 35
Class rank: 7 of 387
GPA: 4.261
College: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Major: Actuarial Science
What are your life goals? The ultimate goal for me is to be the CEO of a world-renowned company. In order to accomplish this feat, I’ll start as an entry-level actuary, toiling my way up the chain into management, and from there I'll take an even larger jump into a corporate level position. Outside of my career, I plan on volunteering profusely and donating my time and resources to various charitable organizations. It warms my heart, and I truly enjoy my time spent helping others. Another goal for me is creating a large family, hopefully having 4-5 kids and many more grandkids. I grew up in a big family, and I’ve always been super close to my cousins and other relatives, so I want the same family experience for my kids as well: the more the merrier! Hopefully, these goals turn into reality, but as long as I gain satisfaction from my hard work, continue to help others, and form my own loving family, I’ll regard myself as quite the success.
What challenges have shaped you, and how? Procrastination. It originates from constantly being busy, so the free time I do get I want to indulge and do absolutely nothing productive. Those times aren’t extremely rare, but too often I think I have enough time when in reality, I don’t. However, I’ve always pushed myself. In both school and sports, I’ve tried to be the best that I could be; to do so, I’ve challenged myself extensively, taking a plethora of advanced and AP classes throughout my school years. There’s been numerous late night grinds to finish papers and other homework, and many more hours spent studying. However, the stress, challenge, and constant battle with procrastination have shaped me into a responsible, hard-working student. These traits are essential to college and, more importantly, the real world.
Best high school memory: My fondest memories haven’t come from any event in particular but from my best friends. The countless memories of laughing, messing around, and simply being weird together I will forever cherish.
My favorite place in Iowa: Downtown Des Moines holds a special place in my heart. From the farmers’ market and local restaurants to the diverse murals and gleaming capitol building, it fills me with the sense of community that I love.
My day is not complete until I ... laugh every day. If I don’t get a good laugh from my best friends, my dad, or my dog, then the day is pretty much wasted.
Hima Joseph
Waukee
ACT score: 36
GPA: 4.308
College: Undecided
Major: Biomedical Engineering
What are your life goals? I hope to build a career either as a biomedical engineer working with medical equipment/prostheses or go to medical school and continue my education there. As of right now, my long-term goal is to become a pediatrician; however, many adults have informed me that the classes and experiences they had in college led them to futures that they couldn't have possibly imagined in high school, so I'm planning to keep an open mind the next few years and take advantage of every opportunity I find. Whatever I end up doing with my life, I want to form connections with the people around me; I want to positively contribute to their quality and ease of life.
What challenges have shaped you, and how? As an Indian-American, I have always struggled with the hyphen in this piece of my identity. I spent most of middle school trying to split myself in two — the "Indian Me" that I presented at home and in our Indian community, versus the "American Me" that I used at school and everywhere else. Constantly feeling like the cultural expectations of my parents were impossible to meet in the societal norms of America, I began to hate this part of me. Through my relationships with other brown students and the experiences I had, however, I finally began to see the two cultures differently. Rather than considering the hyphen a burden, splitting me in two and making me different from my friends, I realized that yes, it makes me different, but this duality is also part of what makes me special.
Best high school memory: In December of 2017, our marching band went to Orlando, Florida. I got to spend a week marching in parades and running around Disney with my closest friends; it's a memory I'll cherish for a long time.
My favorite place in Iowa: Saylorville Lake. It's a beautifully calming place, and I have many fond memories attached to it. I've had everything from summer picnics to school trips held there.
My day is not complete until I ... Pray with my family. Every night before anyone goes to bed, my family tries to spend five minutes praying together. Spending those moments with my parents and sister is my favorite way to end the day.
Lanchi Nguyen
Des Moines Lincoln
ACT score: 34
Class rank: 1 of 569
GPA: 4.447
College: Undecided
Major: Pharmacology/Chemistry
What are your life goals? I’ve always been interested in medicine since I had to take so many as a kid. How it worked, how it was made, and why they were different. That interest soon developed into learning how to create new medications and cures. Being the scientist who finds a solution for cancer has always been a dream. When I visited my family in Vietnam, I saw that the hospitals there did not have the same medications that we have here, I wondered why they didn’t have access to more effective treatments like the ones I had at home. That question has stuck with me for many years. In the future, I want to work with a group of scientists to create medications and therapeutics for people throughout the world. I want to directly impact and help a large scale of people, not just the small bubble I live in. Not only do I want to pursue medication development, I also want to learn how to make sure it's accessible to people in developing countries as well as aligning so it ensures the environment's sustainability.
What challenges have shaped you, and how? My parents are always willing to support me with whatever I need and do not expect anything out of me. Everyone else is also proud of my level of success, which is absolutely amazing because a lot of kids don’t have that support, but that makes it hard to keep going because no one is pushing me to do more. Sometimes when I’m overwhelmed with all my schoolwork and activities, I think about just giving up, it’d be easy because there’s nothing stopping me. Especially when my friends are telling me I should stop worrying because what I’ve already achieved is good enough. But imagining my parents in a mass of debt because I didn’t earn those scholarships, or seeing other students winning awards that I could’ve had a chance at if I had just tried a little harder, helps me push myself to keep going when no one else will. Throughout high school, I’ve built resilience and learned to become my own motivator, which will help me tackle the challenges of discovering the future on my own.
Best high school memory: From screaming at football games to getting lemonade in water cups at Fazoli’s after a meet with the swim team and laughing so much about it we cried, there’s never just one.
My favorite place in Iowa: If you want to have a picnic somewhere you can watch the sunset over a lake, see the stars at night, or go for a swim or bike ride: Easter Lake is it. Best part is it’s basically in my backyard.
My day is not complete until I ... clean my room. The environment I work in is a reflection of the state of my mind. A clear and room is a clear mind. It helps me wake up to a new day feeling refreshed and ready to take on anything.
► ACADEMIC ALL-STATE 2019:All the nominees since 2010
► TOP 10 STUDENTS STATEWIDE FOR 2019
► 2019 REGIONAL STANDOUTS:Central | Northwest | Northeast | Southwest | Southeast