By: Tina Huang
Staff Writer

Five hours of sleep, hours of schoolwork, a filled up schedule, these can commonly describe a top 10 percent student at Coppell High School.

At CHS, the 2011 valedictorian’s GPA was 5.7071, and the 2012 valedictorian’s GPA was 5.7878. Every year, the GPA is taken to new extremes. The GPAs at CHS are so close that .01 can make a huge difference. This close and competitive nature has even caused CHS to not rank.

Each year, the competition for the highest GPA is getting tougher. As the competition progresses, it is harder for students to cling on to a top 10 percent spot. But even so, the students still work hard.

“I guess I do not exactly have priorities, but academics come first, even before health,” senior Danny Park said.

Park is a hard working student, and he is not only in the top 10 percent, but the top 10 people of his class. His daily schedule is different than anyone. Every morning, he goes to school, gets home, eats and then goes to sleep at five or six o’clock every night. He then wakes up at 1 a.m. and begins his routine. He still gets seven or eight hours of sleep, just at a different time.

“I can concentrate better this way,” Park said. “There is no one moving around in the house, and there are not distractions.”

Although not all top 10 percent students do this, all of them do have some things in common: Awareness, sacrifice and Level 4 classes.

Awareness:

“The fact that there is a top 10 percent puts so much pressure on kids…they have to fight in the trenches in order to be at the top,” AP world history teacher Tim Dixon said.

All top 10 percent students know what they are dealing with and what they are doing. This causes a justification to what they do. For instance, if they are taking six AP classes junior year, they know that that is how many they needed in order to stay competitive.

Sacrifice:

Top 10 percent students are willing to do the work; they have the motivation and work ethic. Most of the students in the top 10 percent are completely fine with giving up sleep for schoolwork.

“I have spent seven to eight hours on school work and it has definitely caused me to have a late bed time. I do not care anymore,” senior Minjae Kim said.

That would be, if he got home at 5 p.m., studying nonstop until 1 a.m. Of course, he would have to stop to eat or take a break somewhere in between, so his bedtime would be even later than that.

Those seven to eight hours are almost equal to, or sometimes even more than the amount of sleep he gets.

Senior Hanson Wu gets four or five hours of sleep every night. And just like Minjae, he agrees that it does not matter if is necessary.

“I hate to hear that many hours are needed [for school], but that is just the way it is, and I am not surprised because it just shows from students and parents who have talked to me, students who have come in completely stressed and trying to work out their schedule, and the high goals they set for themselves,” CHS counselor Stacey McNeely says.

The students who want to be in the top of the top ten percent of their class, which is normally around 60 people, must take the highest-level classes, (Level 4: AP and IB); and understand the work needed to be put in.

Level 4 Classes:

Another thing that the top 10 percent students have in common is the amount of AP classes taken; 15 are a normal amount. Some can get away with maybe 10, but most will take more than that. An alternative, but equivalent to AP classes is the IB Program.

Grades are a big deal for the top 10 percent students, and you would think that a major reason for studying hard and getting good grades would be getting into a good college, however, it is not. Many think that good grades marks personal achievement and it should just be a goal to set.

“Is there a better way to improve yourself as a human being at no cost, college should never be the primary reason,” Park said.