Being a junior in high school while taking five point classes is hard enough, but having a 5.0 GPA while being involved in many extra-curriculars seems almost impossible.
Junior Raffi Samurkashian is currently taking three AP’s while maintaining a 5.0 GPA. At the same time, he is part of the Armenian club at Carlmont, the Armenian boy scouts, the Armenian youth federation, and he works at his father’s station.
“I’m able to manage my time by doing my work when it’s assigned so it doesn’t pile up. I do procrastinate though because I seem to work better under pressure,” said Samurkashian.
Samurkashian and other students created the Armenian club his freshman year and he is currently the president of the club.
“The Armenian club was formed during my freshman year because we felt that it was our duty to form a club together. It was a dream of my brother’s to have an Armenian club at Carlmont, but he could never get it started, so I did. We also had a great team,” said Samurkashian.
Samurkashian goes into freshmen’s history classes to give a lecture about the Armenian Genocide.
“Every year since my freshman year, I’ve been presenting to Mr. Nichols’ freshman class about the Armenian Genocide because it is so underrepresented in today’s curriculum,” said Sarmurkashian.
Even with his busy schedule, Samurkashian balances his school and social life.
“I can see Raffi is very devoted to his schooling, but he also applies himself outside in social ways so he’s not just all about school, which makes a well-rounded person,” said junior Julia Semmler.
Not only is Samurkashian an impressive student, but a well-rounded person.
“Raffi is a very laid back and chill guy to be around. He’s always willing to help you out if you need something and he’s an overall great person to be with,” said junior Daryush Shahid.
With his work and motivation, Samurkashian hopes to attend Stanford University.
Samurkashian said, “My number one pick is definitely Stanford because it’s the closest to home, I want to be a doctor, and Stanford has a really good program.”
Samurkashian’s motivation and role model is his father because of his accomplishments and impact on him.
“My inspiration is definitely my father because he came to the U.S. when he was my age and he really understood the value of a higher education. He attended college by day, worked by night, and paid his tuitions with his own wages. Today, he owns a really successful business and he has provided our family with such a comfortable life, so I can only really hope to be as successful as him,” said Samurkashian.
