LR Episcopal student scores 36 on ACT

Senior 1 of 4 in state to get perfect mark on college-entrance exam this year

Handout photo of a student who scored a perfect ACT exam score. 

Shelby Powers; she attends Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock.
Handout photo of a student who scored a perfect ACT exam score. Shelby Powers; she attends Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock.

Episcopal Collegiate School senior Shelby Powers knows her limitations.

"I don't do well on little sleep," she said, explaining why she will not be following in her father Robert Powers' footsteps to become a medical doctor.

But lack of sleep -- after a late Friday night track meet -- didn't keep the 17-year-old long-distance runner from getting up one early April morning to take the ACT. Not only was she tired, but Shelby Powers said she had not studied or taken preparatory classes for the college-readiness exam.

"I hadn't taken the ACT since the seventh grade. I just hoped that I would do well enough not to take it again. I felt like I had done pretty good on it when I was done," she said.

Her mother, Mary Powers, said a few weeks later she received a text message from her daughter after the beginning of her first class of the day: "I think I made a perfect score on the ACT," the message read.

"I texted back, 'My Gosh, what makes you think that?' I was surprised just because of the rarity of making a perfect score," Mary Powers said. "She didn't respond. I texted her a couple of more times, but she didn't answer because she was in class. I was so nervous. Finally, I just went to the school to get her out of class. We did a little dance."

Shelby Powers earned a 36 composite score on the exam. She is one of only four Arkansas students who have earned perfect scores on the college readiness exam in 2014. Last year, 10 Arkansas students achieved it. Nationally, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of test-takers register the top score.

"It was the funniest thing. When she checked for the scores, she screen-shotted it because she was so shocked. She put the phone down real quick, then picked it up again," Mary Powers said. "The circumstances of making a perfect score is so rare that we were all a little surprised. It was nice and just wonderful."

In a recent interview at Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock, the teenager swiped strands of her red hair behind her right ear and glanced down at the table, fidgeting with the ink pen in her hands.

Shelby Powers smiled slightly as she demurely raised her gaze, then shrugged her shoulders when asked about her future plans. She hasn't applied to any colleges yet and hasn't decided her future career field.

She likes math. She might consider engineering. When she was a little girl, she wanted to be a paleontologist when she grew up.

"I really liked science and history; just the discovery of it all and the digging-up part," she said, then blushed before glancing down again at the table. "I think I became more realistic as I got older."

One thing she knows for sure is that she likes learning. And she never wants to stop.

"I want to do something where I'm always learning. I want it to always be engaging and challenging," she said. "I think I can figure that out when I go to college."

Fletcher Carr, the head of Episcopal Collegiate's upper school, said he has no doubt that Shelby Powers will be successful in college and life.

"She's like a rock, so solid. She's so disciplined, inquiring and determined," Carr said. "If she has a problem, she will never give up. She has a ton of intellect and just horsepower."

Mary Powers said her daughter has always been focused, determined and self-motivated.

"She's like that with everything. In track and cross country, she is very disciplined. She doesn't compete against others; her real goal is to break her own time," Mary Powers said.

"She tends to be a little reserved, but she's a great listener. I think that she's a good friend and a good daughter. I'm proud of the person Shelby is as much as I am of any of her accomplishments. She's a very centered person."

Shelby Powers said that while she considers herself outgoing now, that character trait did not always come naturally.

"I used to not be very friendly," she said, then explained that she was "kind of shy. I had a rude awakening with my mom one time when we were picking up my brother at summer camp. She said that I didn't say 'hi' to a girl. I did say it, but the girl didn't hear me. I've had to work on it, and I'm coming out of it. No harm will ever come from being nice to someone."

Now that she's made a perfect score on the ACT, she said her 16-year-old brother, Gus, has taken it as a challenge to earn his own perfect ACT score.

If he accomplishes that goal, Shelby Powers said her 13-year-old sister, Charlotte, will have "all the pressure on her."

"They just have to study. The biggest thing is to keep up in school," Shelby Powers said. "I've studied hard my whole life. It's an accumulation of skills; it doesn't just happen."

Metro on 09/22/2014

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