While the rest of Parkway Central’s students wake up around 6:30 a.m for school, it is not uncommon to see Serena Huang up bright and early at 5 a.m. As a member of Parkway Central’s Girls Swim and Dive team, the senior attends morning practice at least twice a week.
“I think swimming is just one of the greatest things I’ve done. Like, throughout my life in general,” Huang said.
Huang is not just a regular member of the swim team; she has consistently placed in the top 8 at MSHSAA Class 1 State since her freshman year. Most recently, she was named MVP at the Kirkwood Invitational for finishing first place in both the 100 Yard Butterfly and the 100 Yard Breaststroke.
Outside the pool, Huang manages a busy course load and several other extracurricular activities. For her senior year, she is taking five AP Classes, symphonic orchestra, yoga, and is self-studying higher-level math. Renowned by her classmates as one of the smartest students in this year’s graduating class, Huang insists her academic excellence is a result of her love for learning.
As an elementary school student, Huang tested ahead in math, allowing her to take honors geometry as a 6th-grade student. Huang credits this class as a monumental moment for her learning, as she found enjoyment in the challenging aspects.
“I really found myself enjoying myself on the test. I was like, why am I enjoying this? But then I just decided to embrace it,” Huang said.
Physics teacher, Jen Meyer, echoed this sentiment, describing her need to learn more. Huang took AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 with Meyer, and is currently taking AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism independently.
“Serena truly enjoys learning, and she asks really great questions. Sometimes, she asked questions I couldn’t answer on the spot,” Meyer said.
AP Psychology teacher Brad Robertson describes the conscious decision Huang made to excel in class. Instead of dreading class, she was excited to learn more and explain her personal questions.
“Serena didn’t just show up to class, she was present during each class period,” Robertson said. “She was engaged in conversation with classmates, and she personalized her notes using examples from her life.”
Huang is also the President of Parkway Central’s FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) team and the chair of the Sponsorship and Catering committee for Dance Marathon. As president of FBLA, Huang helped to increase recruitment and advertising for the club.
“Being president of FBLA gave me experience talking to people, sharing an idea, and creating events or like spaces for people to be in,” Huang said.
Not only does Huang manage a heavy course load, activities, and being an all-state athlete, she is also a member of the Symphonic Orchestra. She is first chair for Violin 2 and will be participating in the District Solo and Ensemble festival in March.
Huang does not participate in several activities; she excels in them. She aspires to improve herself to be the best possible at everything she participates in. However, she acknowledges that not everyone can be the best at everything.
“If you want to succeed, you have to work on the right thing. There’s a reason why I’m not trying to be a pop star. Because as cool as it would be, putting my 100% into that wouldn’t be as good as me putting my 100% into coding or doing something more intellectual,” Huang said.
She was able to attain her goals by setting personal benchmarks, and not just relying on the people around her for support. Huang enjoys studying and reading, but she was not always so knowledgeable.
“I don’t think I started out any smarter or knowledgeable than other kids. I remember in elementary school we had a test over triangles and rectangles. Something so trivial, but I didn’t know any of them,” Huang said.
Instead, she thinks that her childhood experiences developed her into the person she is today. The Huang family did not place grade expectations on her and instead fostered her love for learning.
“My dad taught me Singapore math on top of doing elementary school math. So that started my whole math thing because I just wanted to learn more than the school math,” Huang said.
Fast forward 10+ years, and Huang is now preparing to go to college. She is not sure where she plans on attending college, but her current highest option is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
She has taken several opportunities outside of school in order to prepare herself for the next chapter of her life. Most notably, the summer before her junior year, Huang interned with NASA alongside several other high-achieving students from around the country.
“My experience was very helpful for learning how to work on a team because you’re surrounded by five other people who are also top top academics, but for different skills,” Huang said.
At NASA, she helped create programs to analyze moon rock and identify where to dig for resources such as water. The materials found through this program will help the Artemis mission conserve Earth materials and instead use materials on the moon.
While she is not at NASA or at the pool, Huang spends time with her friends and teammates on the swim team. Senior Reese Anderson and junior Kenadie Johnson are two of her closest friends, both inside and outside of the pool.
“Serena is an amazing teammate who never fails to hype me up and be excited for me when I do well. She’s always encouraging me and celebrating my wins like they’re her own,” Anderson said.
Serena Huang is a perfect example of what the Parkway Central community strives to be: someone who participates in all areas of the school. She says the best advice for people is continuing to push, even when it seems difficult.
“You may think it’s impossible, like underwaters. You know you need to breathe, but you don’t know when you need to breathe. So it’s like, how much longer can you keep on pushing yourself in a stressful situation?” Huang said.
