Breaking Records

Senior reflects on time and reaching goals on Academic Decathlon team

Senior+Amna+Yasin+poses+for+a+photo+before+teaching+freshman+and+sophomores+science+before+their+competition+in+April.+This+year%2C+Yasin+is+the+co-captain+of+the+Ac+Dec+team.

Senior Amna Yasin poses for a photo before teaching freshman and sophomores science before their competition in April. This year, Yasin is the co-captain of the Ac Dec team.

Senior Amna Yasin is the co-captain of the Ac Dec team. As her fourth year in Ac Dec, Yasin said she has loved every year because she has learned things outside of her core classes and has built relationships with not only the students in the class, but also the coaches.

This year, the Ac Dec team competed at State on Feb. 23-25 and broke school records. Yasin said she is proud of the improvements from Regionals to State because no ones scores went down.

“We would study every day in class and at home,” Yasin said. “We [had] study sessions on Saturdays in the weeks leading up to competition. We were preparing right after regionals happened. The most enjoyable part was how I made the last time ever going to an Ac Dec competition count. I loved spending time with everyone and I’m going to miss it all so much.”

Yasin said she knew she wanted to be in Ac Dec since she was in middle school. She decided she wanted to be a part of something new and said Ac Dec seemed like a great option.

“Throughout middle school I was in band,” Yasin said. “I decided that I didn’t want to continue doing band in high school. I was afraid [of signing up for Ac Dec] first since I learned that there were mainly going to be upperclassmen in the class, but once I got into the class I loved it. I had a great first year and I made friendships with the upperclassmen. I felt like I belonged and had a fun year overall.”

Although Yasin has had fun while being on the Ac Dec team, she said the most stressful part about being in Ac Dec is balancing it with her other classes.

“Ac Dec is just like any other extracurricular activity,” Yasin said. “It takes a lot of time outside of school, so time management is important. I’ve learned time management throughout the years which has helped with managing the stress. You get to learn a lot that you might not learn in core classes and get to meet different people. It’s a hard class, but it’s worth it and it’s so rewarding.”

Yasin said she is going to miss Ac Dec and is sad that this is her last year on the team, but she is glad for what Ac Dec has brought to her life.

“I’ll definitely be able to use the time management, communication and leadership skills I’ve gained through Ac Dec to help me to get to know other people and bring what I have to offer to the college I decided to go to,” Yasin said. “I’ve made a lot of friends throughout the years which include under and upperclassmen. I’m happy that I had the chance to have two amazing coaches for the last four years, [English teacher and Ac Dec Coach Donna] Friend and [AP US History teacher and Ac Dec coach Travis] Zuber. They are both amazing and Ac Dec would not [be as] great without them. I am happy to have had the chance to be a part of Ac Dec for four years.”