With a GPA of 4.7, Carter Goldman (10) spends a majority of his free time studying and living up to the high expectations his family and friends put on him.

“So much more is expected of me, and I need to put in the work to achieve and maintain my grades,” Goldman said.

Goldman is under a lot of stress with his two AP classes and three honors classes, but he is still able to keep his grades up, despite being under pressure.

“I use running as an outlet for stress at school. Running cross country and track gives me a chance to take a break from the coursework and just have peace of mind for a while,” Goldman said.

Goldman is constantly comparing himself to others, and he strives to be better than his brother was during high school.

“It’s always been a competition with my brother, Clayton. He graduated from Lake Central last year at the top of his class with a GPA above 4.6,” Goldman said.

For college, Goldman’s top three schools are MIT, Stanford and Harvard to study computer science. To reach his goals, Goldman needs to do his absolute best in each and every one of his classes.

“Being number one would be nice, but I just want to focus on maintaining my grades. Lake Central doesn’t have a valedictorian, so as long as I keep my GPA 4.5 or higher, I don’t care what rank I am,” Goldman said.