What this Zionsville high schooler had to overcome to earn a perfect ACT score - IndyStar

MJ Slaby Indianapolis Star

Published 6:00 AM EDT Mar 13, 2020

It was almost time for the bell in Dwight Moser’s AP Statistics class when his students started chatting about college admissions and tests like the ACT.

As the students talked, Moser weighed in to say that someone in that very class earned a perfect score on the ACT.

He didn’t want to steal her thunder, so he waited to see if that student would chime in and identify herself, but she didn’t before the bell rang.

Junior Keerti Mallur’s quiet modesty didn’t surprise him or her other teachers. 

And it didn’t surprise them that she was one of three students at Zionsville Community High School who earned a perfect score on the ACT this school year.

“I’m not surprised that she didn’t tell us (about her ACT score), but it doesn’t surprise me that she got a perfect score either,” said Melanie Bowlin, the deaf and hard of hearing teacher for Zionsville Community Schools.

Keerti, who moved with her family to the U.S. from India at age 3, has a passion for science class and long distance running, and she hasn't let a high frequency hearing loss hold her back.

“She can do anything she wants,” Bowlin said. “I don’t think she’ll have any limitations.”

Third time’s a charm

In late December, Keerti got an email with her ACT test scores. She’d taken it twice before and done well, but wanted to do the test one more time to see if she could do better.

"Most people start a week or month in advance," she said of studying for the test and adding that she started months earlier.

Plus, she already had a sense of what the test was like. 

"Doing a lot of them helps," Keerti said.

Yet, she just wasn't sure how she did on the most recent test. She was wrong. It was 36, a perfect score.

"I thought I didn't do well, so it was very surprising," Keerti said.

So the 16-year-old decided to surprise her parents by telling them that it didn’t go well, and then showing them the perfect results.

Ravi and Shilpa Mallur said they were both surprised and excited for her.

"I saw her scores, and thought, 'oh wow,'" Shilpa said.

The oldest of three kids, Keerti has helped her family navigate the American education system. It’s all new to us, added Shilpa. She said there isn’t a version of the ACT in India.

The Mallur family moved to the Indianapolis area from India so that Shilpa could do her residency at St. Vincent.

Keerti and her parents said they know that going to college is competitive, and as someone who is a legal resident with an H-4 visa, which is for dependents, she knows that there are some scholarships that aren’t open to her. 

“I have to work harder," Keerti said. "It’s very competitive."

A lover of science, Keerti said that she might want to be a doctor. And her eyes lit up as she described the genetics class she took as a sophomore. She said she especially liked the lab where students learned how use machines that separate DNA.

What they learn: This Westfield High School class teaches kids how to 'adult.'

Keerti was always asking questions in class and wanting to dig deeper beyond just what was on the test, said Lizzie Davis, Keerti’s genetics teacher.

Even though Keerti can be really quiet, “if I needed to have a class discussion, she was the first one to speak up,” Davis added.

Moser, her math teacher, first met Keerti as a seventh grader and said she’s grown into a confident leader both on the track and in her courses.

In the classroom, fellow students know they can look to her to have a solid answer, he said.

“She’ll ask questions that I have to think about,” he said of having her as a student. “She just wants to know more.”

While she’s not applying to college just yet, Keerti said she is looking at Ivy League schools, but doesn't have specific ones in mind just yet, as well as Indiana University for its medical program.

"I like science and possibly want to be a doctor," Keerti said. "But I don’t know what kind of doctor yet."

Determination and preparation

Bowlin has worked with Keerti since she was in second grade, and they meet once a month to talk about ways that Keerti can advocate for herself whether that’s in the classroom or out in public.

“She helps me with my hearing problems,” Keerti said of Bowlin, adding that not being able to hear well is something she notices all the time.

High frequency hearing loss means that Keerti has trouble hearing high-pitched sounds. For example, the letter S is a big one, Bowlin said, adding that if the word cats is on a spelling test, she wouldn’t hear the 's' and think the word was cat.

In third grade, Keerti started wearing hearing aids to see if they would help.

“She said to me, 'Dad, if I start using the machine now, I'll have to rely on it,'” Ravi Mallur said, adding that his daughter was adamant about not wearing the hearing aids until it was absolutely needed.

And she still doesn't wear them.

She was able to work with Bowlin and find other ways to help her hearing such as sitting in the front of the classroom and learning to lip read.

Bowlin said another way Keerti can hear more clearly is by asking teachers to turn off any background music because it can be difficult to hear people talk over it.

Ravi said Bowlin not only helps Keerti manage her hearing loss in the classroom, but makes sure that she isn't missing out on joining conversations with classmates and friends.

Like most kids, Bowlin said it wasn’t until late middle school and early high school that she started to see Keerti be more comfortable in advocating for herself.

And her other teachers have noticed that confidence grow too. Some said they didn’t even notice that Keerti has made adjustments to hear better in the classroom.

Lindsay Alessandrini, who teaches Spanish, said it’s clear that Keerti prepares for class just based on the questions that she asks during and after class.

The preparation is also a way that Keerti manages her hearing loss. If she can’t hear something in class, she makes sure to ask questions and do extra studying at night. 

Plus, Keerti said she knows that her Spanish skills could help her help others if she goes into a career in medicine. That's part of why she's continued to take Spanish classes and volunteers as a Spanish tutor.

Shilpa Mallur, agreed, and said knowing Spanish is helpful, especially in a hospital setting.

"I'm hoping to use it in the future," Keerti said.

Call IndyStar education reporter MJ Slaby at 317-447-1586 or email her at mslaby@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mjslaby.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"score" - Google News
March 13, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/33cViFs

What this Zionsville high schooler had to overcome to earn a perfect ACT score - IndyStar
"score" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2OdbIHo
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini