Michelle Neary is the first to admit that she's a work in-progress, "I'm probably the world's worst procrastinator."
And the Wayzata Senior is last to call herself an Academic All-Star. "I'm actually incredibly honored because I know there are a lot of other people at this school who are just as good as I am. So, it was an honor to be picked."
While Michelle may be modest, her teachers are not. Her advanced placement literature teacher Dale Dunnigan is effusive, "She's the tomorrow we hope will be coming. She's that kind of strong individual."
Perhaps that talk comes from Michelle's perfect score on the P-SAT or from her score of 2,380 out of a possible 2,400 on the SAT. Or maybe it's her GPA of 4.375 on a 4.0 scale.
Michelle says the scores just reflect her desire to do well and her love of learning, "So I guess they go together."
"I teach A.P. Computer Science, says Thomas Kilkelly, the Wayzata Math Team Coach, "And she was in the course and she was the first student ever to ace the test the first time she took it. It, ah, just never happened."
Seems Michelle does lots of things that don't usually happen.
Another example, while at a band camp, Michelle decided it would be fun to take a voice lesson and she shocked the teacher, "The teacher warmed me up and she just stood there with her mouth open and said you have a 3-and-a-half octave range? Why are you not singing more?"
The answer was easy, because she's too busy playing the clarinet with the Minnesota Youth Symphonies. There, under the direction of Osmo Vansk, the conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, they are learning Igor Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring.' Which, Michelle says, "is insanely hard."
Michelle says the key to success in so many areas is to keep everything in perspective, "You still have to have fun throughout the whole thing because otherwise, what's the point?"
Michelle has already been accepted at the University of Michigan. But she's still undecided as she waits to see what school offers the best combination of academics and the opportunity to further her vocal and clarinet skills.
By Tim McNiff, KARE 11 News
(Copyright 2007 KARE TV. All Rights Reserved)