Jamaican Johan Gordon has achieved what few students have ever accomplished. The 17-year old Campion College student scored a perfect 36 on the American College Testing entrance exam. Gordon’s score of 36 on the ACT is equivalent to a perfect score of 1,600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Gordon’s feat was also a historic moment for the student and Jamaica. Well-known academic, Dr. Dennis Minott, indicated that Gordon’s success marked the first time that a Jamaican student has ever achieved a perfect score on the ACT or the SAT within the bounds of Jamaica.
Minott, a leading scientist, and educator was Gordon’s tutor through the academic’s A-QuEST program that prepares students for colleges abroad. Jamaican Damien Chang scored a perfect 1,600 on the SAT while attending Woodberry Forest School in VA. Minott noted that Gordon may be the first in the Caribbean to attain a perfect ACT score.
When Gordon was notified of his achievement, he first thought that he was being shown an example of what could be attained instead of what he had already accomplished. Gordon gave credit to Minott for his guidance within the A-QuEST program and the entire college application process.
Gordon is in his second year of sixth form and has already been looking at Ivy League universities that include Brown, Columbia, and Stanford. Once accepted, he has plans to study biology or international relations. A former teacher awakened a love of biology in Gordon and he was ranked eighth in Jamaica in the subject, but he also harbors a love of languages.
The student placed first in French on the island, receiving a Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, and ninth in the Caribbean in 2018. He also placed fourth in the region and third in Jamaica for Spanish CAPE Unit One. Those achievements have given him a new perspective on diplomacy and how languages can be a bridge between nations.
When he’s not studying, Gordon is a member of the volleyball team at Campion and has been performing professionally in theatre for three years with the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company.
Photo Source: Contributed
