Some might call him a prodigy, others a genius. The truth is, Antony Yun is just a normal high school senior with very good test scores-so good, in fact, that he’s one of only four students within HISD to achieve them.

“It was a celebratory moment [when I found out], but I also felt pretty relieved about it,” Yun said. “I knew that at that point, I wouldn’t have that nagging feeling in the back of my head going “well, what if I retook the test? What could I have done better? Maybe this is why this college didn’t accept me, because I wasn’t up to their standards.”

Yun felt assured by his scores and knew that it would be one more thing out of his impressive resume that might help him get into the college of his choice.

“At least now I have that comforting feeling that if there’s any weak spot in my application, it’s not going to be because of my test scores,” Yun said. “I can completely focus on those essays and on those extra-curricular activities now, and just having that peace of mind simplifies things for me.”

Despite his impressive academic achievements throughout high school, Yun entered Bellaire much like any regular freshman: anxious at entering a large school and worried that he wouldn’t find a place within it.

“Freshman year I think I was mainly focused on just adjusting to high school, because I had just come from T.H. Rogers and it was a tiny school, maybe 125 people per grade;” Yun said. “I was kind of nervous about coming to Bellaire. I knew a lot of people here, luckily, but I was less competitive in 9th grade and I was more focused on just getting into high school.”

Yun had participated in quiz bowls and math clubs in middle school and thought it was only fitting that he continue to do them in high school.

“I participated in quiz bowl in middle school so I continued that at the end of my freshman year when I got on to the team here,” Yun said. “I joined math club, that was also one of the earlier things I participated in. That was kind of, I guess, a legacy of math counts and just my passion for math that I had in middle school, so that helped me find my place here.”

Quiz bowl in particular helped him establish a close relationship with AP Physics teacher Jimmy Newland, a teacher he counts among his supporters throughout the years.

“One of my favorite Bellaire teachers is Mr. Newland, I would say,” Yun said. “He’s the person who I’ve interacted with the most, just because I’ve had his classes for three years-AP Comp Sci first, then AP Physics C, and now I’m in IB Astronomy-and I’ve been in his club. He’s a Quiz bowl sponsor, so since the end of freshman year he’s been someone that’s always been a part of my school experience. It’s just kind of comforting to know that you have that teacher that can be there and motivate you.”

Now Yun is looking forward to a peaceful rest of senior year. He’s ready to tackle the rest of the semester and hopes that second semester will be a little more relaxing than the first.

“To be honest, senioritis affected me a lot more junior year,” Yun said. “I guess you could call it Junioritis? It was just because as you progress through high school, a lot of classes become mixed grades, and especially in Junior year a lot of the people I interacted with and the people around me were Seniors, and that attitude that they had towards making that final stretch started rubbing off on me. This year, I can’t quite yet afford to act that way; if I do, where am I going to go to college? But we’ll see what happens second semester. I don’t hope to drop off and just completely stop doing everything but I think it’ll at least be less stressful.”