MICDS Latin students, Nick Jones ’18 and Arjun Ramakrishnan ’20, have earned a rare honor – they achieved a perfect score on the National Latin Exam.
Nick Jones was one of approximately 1000 students out of 140,000 worldwide who took the National Latin Exam to record a perfect score. What makes this accomplishment even more noteworthy is that this is the third year in a row Nick has accomplished this feat.
His teacher, Jim Llufrio, says, “Nick has established a reputation in Latin for his extraordinary motivation and willingness to go beyond the course work. He exemplifies the meaning of ‘love of learning.’ Nick is more than a serious student; he takes pride in everything he does, but he is able to laugh and enjoy what he is doing.”
For Nick, this incredible honor is especially rewarding because it is a tangible outcome of his passion for Latin, one of his favorite courses. “The language is something that not only incorporates linguistics, but also logic, poetry, and centuries of history; it encompasses everything that I love about learning, and Mr. Llufrio and Ms. Griffin teach it to incorporate the entirety of these things,” he says. “Consequently, I’ve grown to absolutely love The Classics, so I always try to represent this passion and keep developing as a learner. It feels incredibly rewarding for that work to have paid off, and it continues to make my interest in Latin grow exponentially.”
After only one year of studying Latin at MICDS, Arjun Ramakrishnan achieved a perfect score on the Introduction to Latin National Latin Exam. Approximately 500 students out of the more than 19,800 who take the exam worldwide earn a perfect score.
Arjun describes the achievement as his reward for hours of dedication to studying Latin this year and motivation to keep up the good work. “I’ve decided it would be really cool to earn this next year, too,” he says, adding, ” I enjoy studying Latin because I have always loved learning about mythology and ancient civilizations. The language itself is also not very strict and orderly like English. This casual sense makes the language more enjoyable overall.”
Arjun’s Latin teacher, Natalie Griffin, appreciates his active and thoughtful participation in class. “He genuinely enjoys learning and is not intimidated by a challenge. I am very proud of Arjun for achieving a perfect score and I look forward to watching his continued success in 8th grade Latin next year,” she says.