As adults, most of us take on more than our fair share of responsibility. We start off as worry free kids, and life quickly evolves into a never ending challenge for each and every one of us. Add all our other interests, activities and engagements to the mix, and you’ve got a full plate. Now imagine trading work for school, which means similar daily hours plus the addition of homework. Then throw in a half dozen extracurriculars, several clubs and a few international engagements, all while still a teenager. Now you have Saint Edwards High School senior Morgan Benson’s approximate schedule – yet she balances it all with an easy smile.

Her entire high school career, Morgan has pushed herself to achieve success in every arena of her life. Each year she has taken classes both in the honors program and the AP (college level) program, sometimes even doubling up on advanced sciences. For example, last year she took Honors Physics and AP Chemistry at the same time, which brought her to a total of three Honors classes and three AP classes.

This past year, she has again taken on a challenging course load, taking three AP classes as well as three Honors classes. Morgan has also received a commendation from the prestigious National Merit Scholars for making the top 3% of all high school students in the US. This means that not only does Morgan tackle the advanved classes, she does exceptionally well in them. And all the while she’s excelling in school, she is participating in numerous academic extracurriculars.

Morgan is on Mu Alpha Theta, Saint Edwards’ math team, which travels around the state competing in various math competitions against other high school math teams. She is also Co-President of the National Honor Society for all of Saint Edwards (not only the Senior class) and is a member of the Model United Nations, an organization geared to teach students about diplomacy and political policy while offering a unique opportunity to travel. She has traveled with the Model UN to Russia and Scotland to represent Saint Edwards, and will be going with the organization to Ireland this spring.

In addition to her academic accomplishments, Morgan is also a well a well rounded and versatile athlete. She is on the cross country, soccer, lacrosse and swim teams at Saint Edwards and regularly competes with those respective teams. With her cross country running, a normal practice consists of a three mile run – an absolute impossibility for most of the people – yet Morgan lightheartedly talks of her aspirations to make District Finals this year. As another testament to her athleticism and ambition, Morgan is on the soccer and lacrosse teams, also branching out this year by joining the swimming team.

With so many talents, what does a high school senior think most about in her “spare” time? College applications of course! Morgan dreams of attending college and pursuing a career as a Biomedical Engineer, so the big question is where to apply? The current short list includes the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Florida, Wake Forest in Winston- Salem, the University of Miami and New York University, among others. Despite the fact that she is still in high school, Morgan is already an amazingly capable and intelligent young woman, able to shine in all she does without missing a beat. With her senior year, college, and the rest of her future, she will no doubt remain ahead of the curve in every aspect of life.