Sophomore John Song Quietly Goes About Achieving

John Song is Mr. Steady. The Huntington High School sophomore is level-headed and composed. He doesn’t get flustered. He pushes ahead; always ahead. He goes about his business with little flash or fanfare. But his achievements are spectacular.

Mr. Song is excelling. His first marking period academic grade average exceeded 98. He’s taking an assortment courses spread across a variety of disciplines, including Advanced Computer Graphics, Forensic Science, Honors Chemistry, English 10, Global History 10, Spanish III and Ceramics I.

“My favorites are Ceramics, Global and a little bit of Chem and Forensics,” Mr. Song said. “Ceramics is a hands on type of class, which personally I like doing, if it has explicit instructions and doesn’t get too confusing.”

Mr. Song got his start in Huntington UFSD at Washington Primary School. He’s been excelling since just about his first day in the district.

The teenager gets along well with everyone, including his teachers, who prize his dependability and work ethic.

“Ms. [Camille] Tedeschi has been a teacher who helps me improve my focus and determination to get things done,” Mr. Song said. “In her class, anyone with a phone out would have it taken away and put in ‘Cellcatraz’ and will be given it back at the end of the period. She would do this to remove all distractions for us to be productive.”

Mr. Song prizes his dog, a Yorkshire terrier named Jack. He can frequently be seen bringing Jack for a walk. “I think he is a teacup,” the teenager said.

The sophomore is particularly enjoying his Global History class. “It’s a small class with about 12 people in it, which makes it easier to focus without the chatter of a classroom with 30 kids in it and it’s a place to work hard, but is also relaxing after working for a long period,” Mr. Song said.

The teenager is also fascinated by science. “I like Forensic Science because it’s very interesting to learn how crime scenes are taken care of and to learn how criminals might operate,” Mr. Song said.

The teenager is going through high school with his sister, Hannah, a Huntington junior who unlike her brother is quite talkative.

“I have not thought about college or possible majors, but I would like to have a career in anything that uses manual labor like construction,” Mr. Song said. “So I will have to major in engineering and jobs like accounting where I have to major in mathematics and maybe business.”

Mr. Song admits he isn’t a particularly talkative person and typically keeps to himself. “I focus on my classwork so it doesn’t become homework,” he said. “Everyone doesn’t like homework just like me, so I try to finish my work then finish my homework, because I always waste time or procrastinate when I’m doing homework in an isolated or deathly quiet area like in a library, because my mind just wanders to other things like football to see if my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, will make the playoffs (they didn’t).”

Practical and reasonable are two good words to describe Mr. Song, who is just about the most responsible teenager anyone could cross paths with.

“In 10 years I’ll be 25 or 26,” Mr. Song said. “I hope that I have a well providing job that allows me to buy a house so I can have my parents move in. This may be boring, but it’s what I believe is possible. I’m the type of guy that believes ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ so if I continue to work hard and don’t stray away from my path I will achieve my goal.”