This Chicago student got a perfect score on his AP Spanish exam

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By Gwen Aviles

Arturo Ballesteros, 17, is pretty excited — all the hours of diligent study and hard work have finally paid off for the Chicago high school junior.

He is one of 100 students — out of a total of 189,658 — who got a perfect score on his Advanced Placement exam on Spanish language and culture.

“I saw I had gotten a perfect score and was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Ballesteros told NBC News, recalling his reaction when he read a letter the College Board sent to his home. “I was blown out of the water.”

High school students take a test after completing a rigorous AP class on a particular subject. Colleges and universities use AP scores to determine a student’s knowledge of a subject and whether they should grant them college credit for the class.

Prestigious and competitive universities look at high AP scores as an indicator of a student’s success.

Ballesteros, who took the exam in the spring, said he “didn’t have time to reflect” on his answers. The almost three-hour exam was as much a test in stamina as it is in Spanish proficiency. It included 65 multiple choice questions, a persuasive essay, a twominute impromptu verbal presentation in Spanish about having pets and a conversation about pursuing a career in law.

After he got the news, Ballesteros told his parents, but did not alert anyone else.

“I told my parents because I owe my accomplishments to them,” he said of his mother and father, who hail from Mexico. “But I don’t like to randomly talk about myself like that or come off as arrogant.”

source: nbcnews.com