Adventurous Senior Liam Tucker Studies at Korea University

While no one can argue that Liam Tucker has a sense of adventure, the Huntington High School senior just might take it a few steps further. The teenager appears to be downright fearless. He’s obviously comfortable halfway around the world.

“This past summer was very exciting for me,” Mr. Tucker said. “I studied linguistics at Korea University in Seoul for basically the whole summer. I stayed on campus in the international student dormitory. The experience was all around amazing.”

Mr. Tucker attended classes in South Korea for six weeks and was even asked to give a talk on being an undergraduate attending college in another country. He earned an A+ in all three classes to garner a scholarship. The college was founded in 1905 and boasts an enrollment of nearly 30,000 undergraduates and postgraduates.

Back in the United States, Mr. Tucker’s senior year is off to a wonderful start. He taking classes in Advanced Placement Government & Politics with Economics, AP English Literature & Composition, AP Latin, AP Chemistry and Senior Band Competitive Honors.

“I’m actually looking forward to and love all my classes so far, but especially AP Latin and AP English Literature,” Mr. Tucker said. “Since I’ve been taking Latin for six years, our class has become a little family and it doesn’t really feel like a typical class. I’m looking forward to AP English Literature because I love Mrs. [Kelly] Quintero.”

Mr. Tucker is an exceptional student. “I especially look forward to working with Mrs. [Deborah] Beck and Mrs. Quintero,” he said. “Last year, Mrs. Beck and Mrs. Quintero basically became my ‘school parents’ and this year I am working as Mrs. Beck’s paid lab assistant and intern. Mrs. Beck is just so smart and supportive and we can talk for hours. It feels like I should be the one paying her. Mrs. Quintero is the same. While I was planning my study abroad in Korea, she was always interested and supportive, even offering to talk to my parents about it because her daughter had done study abroad as well.”

Captain of the Blue Devil varsity fencing team, president of the Latin Honor Society and vice president of Huntington’s National Honor Society chapter, Mr. Tucker is accomplished both in and out of the classroom.

“Like everyone else, my high school experience has been interesting,” Mr. Tucker said. “We lost freshman and sophomore years, so it feels like I’ve been trying to pack those two years into junior and senior years and just trying to get the full high school experience. Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way though. It’s been fun.”

He might be back in America and Huntington, but the teenager is thinking about the future and heading back overseas.

“I want to go to college in Korea,” Mr. Tucker said. “My number one school right now is Korea University, where I studied at this past summer. I want to study English language and/or linguistics and would like to become a college professor/scholar.”