It’s not surprising that cell phone service in parts of Peru don’t exist. It’s not like Machu Picchu is a thriving metropolis these days. So when Emily Smith — a junior from Cabot at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts — missed a few calls and texts while participating in a recent tour of Peru as part of the school’s Global Learning Program, it wasn’t a big deal.
What was a big deal was the news that those messages contained — Smith had just received notice that she had earned a perfect score—a 36— on her most recent ACT test. In February, she took the universal ACT test, which every junior in Arkansas took for free.
Smith said she had not planned on taking the college-readiness assessment test again. She had taken it three times already, scoring a 33 on her most recent attempt. Since it was free, however, she saw no harm in taking it again. But when she heard the news of her perfect score, even she was surprised by the results.
“My soul kinda left my body,” Smith said. “I had a message from my mom saying congratulations. I didn’t even know what to think.”
She didn’t run into the halls of the hotel and start telling everyone in her travel group, however.
“I didn’t really want to say anything. I didn’t want to brag,” Smith said.
When her father picked her up from the airport when she returned from her trip, he had the envelope with the results in the car. “He said, ‘I’m so proud of you. You did a good job,’” Smith said.
Smith said what helped her achieve high scores on her previous three attempts of the ACT was taking practice tests. A student at Cabot High School before coming to ASMSA, Smith said she took one Gifted and Talented seminar that was essentially nothing but test prep.
“We took the practice tests in the same timed conditions as the real tests. The key is always the timing. Most people know how to get answers, but they don’t know how to time it,” she said.
Smith has also taken the other popular college-readiness assessment test — the SAT. It includes an additional math section in place of a science section, Smith said. “I always thought the SAT was a better test. I liked it better. But now that I have a perfect score on the ACT …,” she said.
Chemistry is Smith’s current focus that may become her future major. She has a list of potential colleges, both in-state and national schools, but she hasn’t decided yet which is her favorite.
She still has some time to decide that, however. Perhaps when she gets notified of her future college acceptance, the cell reception may be a bit better.