By Meghan Doyle
Executive News Editor
French 2 student freshman Adrian Gunawan walked up to the fieldhouse podium to receive his award, feeling excited, yet a little nervous to be in front of so many people.
After weeks of preparation, Gunawan’s hard work had paid off: he had aced the National French Contest, making him the first Prospect student ever to do so and the only one in the Midwest this year.
In order to prepare for the contest, Gunawan studied his textbook, previous exams, and a study guide given to the class by teacher Kathryn Wilkens.
Wilkens said that Gunawan would complete past National French exams, downloaded from the Internet, including those geared toward French 3 and 4 students, and then come in and ask her about what he didn’t understand. Wilkens admired that Gunawan wasn’t intimidated to come in on Thursdays to meet and speak French with the AP French class.
“[The other AP students] had such a level of respect for him,” Wilkens said.
Not only do the AP students have a respect for Gunawan, but Wilkens said he has made a great impact on the students in his French 2 class, too.
Although she acknowledges Gunawan’s achievements could have caused competition within the class, Wilkens said this was not a problem because his enthusiasm for learning was so contagious. She also mentioned that Gunawan is met not with animosity, but with respect and support from other students.
“I was so proud of Prospect students and how they supported him in accepting that honor,” Wilkens said. “People just realize he’s an extraordinary person.”
Gunawan attributes his achievement to the amount of time he put in to studying and learning the material that would be on the exam. Wilkens agreed these tactics helped Gunawan do so well, but said that not only is Gunawan intelligent with an intuitive understanding of French, but he has the self-discipline required to achieve greatness.
“He’s brilliant; he has this tremendous talent, but it’s the discipline that makes the difference,” Wilkens said.
In addition to this most recent award, Gunawan also achieved first place in the National You Be The Chemist! Challenge, in 2010, and tied for second place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, also in 2010.
These experiences have taught Gunawan to be open to new opportunities.
“I always remember I have to be prepared for anything that may come ahead,” Gunawan said.
And Wilkens sees many great things ahead for Gunawan.
“The sky’s the limit,” Wilkens said. “Anything he sets his heart on – he’ll achieve it.”
