When first meeting someone who has over a 4.0, most people will assume the person is naturally smart and that all they do is study. However this isn’t true, senior Austin Nguyen hasn’t always had his straight A average, but he has worked his way up to being a Royal Lancer.

Nguyen never thought he would have to study to maintain his excellent grades, but soon realized school was not as easy as he thought.

“Honestly, keeping up my academics was relatively easy, until junior year,” Nguyen said. “Things were starting to get really hard, so I made the decision to start studying.”

The competition among teenagers striving to get in to their top college is tough. Nguyen knew he would have to work harder to be the student colleges wanted to have.

“I started thinking more about college, and realized I needed to study if I wanted to get good grades that would look good toward college,” Nguyen said.

Usually parents are always hounding their kids about keeping their grades up, but Nguyen didn’t need any motivation from an outside source.

“When I saw a B on my report card, I was really disappointed so really, I motivated myself,” Nguyen said. “I knew that I needed to stop being so lazy and needed to start getting ready for life after high school. My parents were disappointed when I lost my 4.0, but they knew I could get it up. It was nice having them believe in me, but I mostly motivated myself.”

Nguyen’s personality toward academics inspires others to have a different outlook on school.

“Austin inspires some people because he has a lot of work to do but he is still really positive about it,” senior Alexander Orimoloye said. “He is always joking around, but still always stays focused on what goal he is trying to achieve.”

No one enjoys schoolwork, but Nguyen figured out a solution that makes homework feel less like a burden.

“If I were to give advice it would be to just get up and start studying,” Nguyen said. “Try to make it fun, it’s hard but maybe listen to music or have the T.V. on in the background. This might not work for a lot of people but I watch T.V. while I do my homework. Doing homework is boring, but if the T.V. is on then it keeps me focused.”

Austin may be dedicated to his academics but he also tries to find a balance between school and relaxation.

“Unlike other royal lancers, Austin works hard to get a higher GPA, but he also understands that there is more to life than just high grades,” Orimoloye said. “He puts an effort into having fun and just enjoying life and the high school experience.”

Although Nguyen has recently made academics his priority, he also has extracurricular he enjoys.

“As a freshman and sophomore I played lacrosse, and as a junior I helped out at Palomar Community College,” Nguyen said. “This year I mostly just hang out with my friends a lot after school, since it’s my senior year.”

Being a Royal Lancer is an honor at Carlsbad High, but intelligence does not have to be everyone’s strong point.

“One likes to be humble, but being a royal lancer really makes you feel like you’re on top,” Nguyen. “It’s cool to say I have one of the top 30 GPA’s out of 3 thousand people. If one is striving to be a royal lancer, I would say to just keep trying. Also know that grades aren’t everything, try to do other things too, extracurricular activities are really important and fun.”