Out of the entire senior class, twenty-three distinguished students in the top four percent received the title of a Royal Lancer for their strong grades throughout high school. Seniors Shayda Moezzi and Edward Gardner were among those crowned with this achievement.

In addition to other endeavors like co-founding coding workshops for pediatric cancer patients,  Moezzi managed to maintain the grades needed for Royal Lancer status. Moezzi became a recipient of this award while juggling other activities like robotics, volunteering, tennis, piano and cello. 

“I was definitely really happy because it symbolizes all the hard work and effort put in these past four years to achieving good grades and being successful in school,” Moezzi said. “It was definitely super rewarding to be recognized for all that.”

Moezzi especially enjoyed taking AP computer science, AP physics and AP chemistry despite all the hard work and late nights studying involved. Although the classes initially sounded intimidating, Moezzi excelled due to her enjoyment learning the different topics covered. 

“I think that enjoyment of learning drove me to learn more and study more for my classes,” Moezzi said. “it was a win-win situation because I liked what I was doing and also would receive good grades because of that.”

With numerous college-level courses on deck, Moezzi sometimes had to sacrifice extracurriculars for studying or vice versa. Prioritizing certain activities meant that some commitments, such as robotics practice, would be replaced with preparing for an upcoming test.

“Honestly, I would say I didn’t have that good of a balance between my extracurriculars and my school,” Moezzi said. “People should know it’s normal to not have a balance.”

After juggling numerous commitments and achieving this title, Moezzi advises younger students to not strive for the title of a Royal Lancer, but instead work on their passions and receive the natural benefits. Moezzi’s success in AP science courses relates to her coding workshops for cancer patients, and this concern for larger issues in the world subsequently led to her academic success. 

“If you start from the origin and put your knowledge and excitement into learning and what you do, you will naturally become a Royal Lancer or get the title you want,” Moezzi said. “I think working towards something bigger than just the title is important, and I think that’s why I’m a Royal Lancer.”

Edward Gardner also earned his Royal Lancer status while participating in a myriad of extracurricular activities. In addition to academics, Gardner served as captain of the lacrosse team, president of Best Buddies, coach for Special Olympics, singer in a choir and musical theater member. 

“It’s always a struggle, you have to sacrifice sometimes,” Gardner said. “But, I definitely was able to find time to do fun stuff outside of school.” 

Gardner accounts his ability to maintain good grades, extracurriculars and a social life to discipline. While limiting time on unproductive activities, like watching Youtube videos, Gardner also ensured sleep remained an important part of his daily routine.

“Sleep is pretty underrated,” Gardner said. “Getting a lot of sleep is pretty important.”

Gardner also maintained strong academics by taking classes he found interesting. In addition to AP art history, in which Gardner enjoyed learning about the development of art through time, Gardner also liked taking AP US history. 

“If you’re gonna take AP classes or hard classes, take classes that you’re actually interested in,” Gardner said. “It will make all the work easier for those classes.”

Although every course Gardner took did not initially interest him, he still found silver linings within the coursework. Despite not being a science enthusiast, Gardner evolved to gain skills from his biology honors class during freshmen year. 

“I wasn’t really a big science guy, but it was definitely a class I was glad I took,” Gardner said. “It taught me a lot of skills about studying and doing homework.”

After working throughout high school to develop disciplinary habits and high grades, Gardner received his formal title of achievement. This Royal Lancer recognition represented years of work coming to fruition. 

“I had a lot of pride in it because it was just a symbol that all my hard work had paid off,” Gardner said. “So, I was really happy.”