Josephine “Josie” Hardy shows the world just how much is possible from a high school student. With top grades in her six AP classes, advanced Spanish class, cheerleading, and a part-time job, she proves that it is possible to attain academic success and stay motivated to produce results for the school. 

Hardy is a junior at AGHS and taking AP Calculus AB, AP Seminar, AP US History, Spanish 3, AP Psychology, AP English Language, and AP Chemistry. 

“I kind of wish that [Ms. LaBrado] had pushed [me to take] more DE (Dual Enrollment) classes over the summer,” Hardy said about any academic regrets.

Academics dominate her busy schedule, but she still makes time for extracurriculars. She has worked on the weekends, cheerleading practice accompanied by Friday night football, and still manages to find time for family. 

In addition to all her extracurriculars, Hardy still has to stay on top of her homework. 

“It’ll always keep me up until at least one [in the morning] but sometimes, into four in the morning,” Hardy said. “It just gets to the point where I’ll fall asleep on my desk doing homework.”

Though her strenuous classes keep her up into late hours of the night, her academic pressures don’t come from teachers, peers, or parents but from the way she pushes herself alone. However, she knows that the payoff of her work is worth it. “It’s proving I’m smart for sure,” Hardy said. 

Not only do her academic successes come with validation, but they also harbor greater respect within teacher-student relationships. 

“I feel like when you take harder classes, the teachers are assuming that you’re trying your best…then they’ll be more lenient with you,” Hardy said.

Even though college is not far off, she shrugged, saying, “I mean, college is cool too.” College is in the back of her mind. However, it isn’t Hardy’s primary focus like many of her peers. She works for herself.