PHOTO BY JULIANNA LEOPOLD

FAYETTEVILLE—Seventeen-year-old Helen Austin, a senior at St. Mary’s Academy, returned home from a family trip at 3 a.m. one June morning after multiple flight delays. With only three hours of sleep, she woke up, grabbed some coffee and headed to take her ACT exam.  

That same day she unknowingly achieved what few students ever do, a perfect 36 on the exam.  

Austin, who lives in McDonough, took the college entrance exam without studying for it. It was the first and only time she sat for the ACT.  

The ACT and SAT, standardized exams used for college admissions across the United States, test students on subjects like English, math, reading, writing and science.  

The SAT, which Austin also excelled on, scores students on a 1600-point scale.  

Austin first took the SAT as a sophomore, earning 1510 without studying. Over four attempts, she steadily improved her performance, scoring 1590.   

That final effort came after a friendly challenge from a classmate in her AP calculus class who told her, “I bet you can’t get a 1550.”  

Scoring 36 is only earned by less than one percent of ACT test takers nationwide, according to a PrepScholar report. Upon learning her score, Austin could not believe it.   

“I just remember telling myself that morning of the exam, ‘whatever happens, happens,’” she shared. “When I got my score, my family took me out to dinner and we celebrated.”   

Seventeen-year-old Helen Austin, a senior at St. Mary’s Academy who achieved a perfect score on the ACT, stands next to a project she made for her AP physics class. Ryan Schilling, who taught Austin honors physics and calculus, said her aptitude for understanding complex subjects was evident early on. Photo by Julianna Leopold

A light in every classroom   

Teachers at the Fayetteville school say her scores are impressive, but not surprising.   

St. Mary’s Academy English teacher Katy McCall had Austin in her AP language class.  

“She’s an awesome test taker. More than anything, though, she is a light to teach. She came to every class excited to learn and share,” said McCall.  

The teacher admires Austin’s warmth and curiosity, sharing that the teenager will often visit her classroom and provide life updates.   

“I just love Helen because, well, she’s Helen,” said McCall.  

“I hope St. Mary’s has provided the best environment for her to flourish and that we’re giving to her as much as she’s giving to us, because she’s just one of those kids I’m never going to forget,” said McCall.   

Ryan Schilling, who taught Austin honors physics and calculus, said her aptitude for understanding complex subjects was evident early on.  

“Helen came in as a new student last year, and she stood out pretty quickly,” Schilling said. “Subjects that typically took a few days to understand clicked with Helen almost instantly.”  

‘Everything is math’   

Austin transferred to St. Mary’s Academy her junior year after attending Impact Academy in Henry County. She desired a more personal learning environment, one where her teachers knew her name and noticed her growth. After research, she found that St. Mary’s Academy checked all her boxes.   

“The school had all the classes I wanted and smaller class sizes, which is really important to me,” she said. “Here, the teachers know students personally.”   

Austin said her faith and family have been central to her success. Her father, Michael Austin, an Eastern Orthodox Christian, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and nurtured her love of math and physics.   

Her mother, Patricia Austin, is a Catholic and staff member at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta. She inspires Austin with her determination and selflessness. Austin’s grandmother, Helen Ray, a former educator, sparked her love for learning.  

“I’m doing this for them,” she said. “They’re my biggest motivation.”   

Her love for mathematics began the summer before her freshman year when she attended a math camp at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.   

“Throughout the course, I learned about all of these seemingly unrelated things, but in the last two days, I essentially created my own formula to solve a problem,” Austin said. “That’s what mathematicians do. It was then I realized I loved math.”   

Now dual-enrolled with Georgia Tech, Austin takes an advanced course load that includes AP physics, AP English literature, linear algebra and world religions.   

Austin said math continues to be her favorite subject not just for its logic, but for the way it shapes how she understands the world.  

“It’s everything,” she said. “Everything is math. It’s how I exist as a person.”   

Under the spotlight  

Austin’s love of learning is matched by her passion for the stage. She is deeply involved in theater, both at school and in the McDonough community.   

Austin performs and manages productions with St. Mary’s Academy’s student-led theater club. On Nov. 7 and 8, she played Puck in “Shakespeare Unbound,” a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s works.  

At The Henry Players, a performing arts theater in McDonough, Austin has stage managed shows like “Little Shop of Horrors,” “A Chorus Line” and “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.”   

Theater, Austin shared, has helped her come out of her shell and learn more about herself.  

Looking ahead  

Austin plans to major in mathematics and possibly minor in philosophy when she begins college next year. Though she has not decided where she will attend, she knows she wants to pursue research or teaching someday.   

For now, she is focused on finishing her senior year strong, balancing AP courses, theater rehearsals and college applications.   

Her motivation, she said, is rooted in the belief that greatness is not measured only by results.   

“I guess in my head, everyone has a maximum score that’s attainable for them,” Austin said. “And I feel like if you’ve reached that, then you’ve done just as well as I have.”