Students at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science had the opportunity to attend two educational seminars last week.

The first seminar was hosted by Thomas Richardson, an alumnus of MSMS and son of MSMS literature teacher Emma Richardson. The seminar, “Tackling the ACT,” focused on the English and reading sections of the ACT, as Richardson is an English teacher at New Hope High School in Columbus.

Richardson believes that it is important that students have access to seminars like this because of the importance that colleges place on standardized test scores.

“For better or worse, many colleges consider standardized tests like the ACT to be important measures of students’ potential on the college level,” Richardson said. “Therefore, I think it’s important to spend some time looking at the fine print of the test that is going to affect to significantly MSMS’s college-bound students.”

Richardson has presented this seminar at MSMS for the past three years, and says that he will continue to do so as long as he is invited back.

“I’ll do it as long as I’m invited because, like for many MSMS alums, the school has had such a profound influence on my life—personal and professional—that I want to see that joy and significance spread through the whole MSMS community,” said Richardson.

Christian Donoho, a senior at MSMS, attended the seminar and says that he is more confident about his next ACT test.

“I feel pretty confident about this one,” said Donoho. “Hopefully, it’ll bump my composite up a couple points.”

The second seminar was hosted by Austin Deskewies, assistant director of state outreach for Get2College. This “College Guide” seminar covered topics ranging from how to choose the right college to basic requirements for college admissions.

Deskewies travels to high schools across Mississippi and speaks to students who are interested in pursuing a post-secondary education.

“I think it went well,” said Deskewies. “There were some questions that I’m not used to being asked, but I should have anticipated that being at a school like this one.”

Along with answering questions, Deskewies also gave sound advice to those who attended.

“Never limit yourself and always give yourself the maximum opportunity,” said Deskewies. “Never take ‘no’ for an answer just because something is too expensive, too far, or too against what the general people in your life tell you to do.”

Greg Billingsley, a junior at MSMS, attended the seminar and says that he learned about things he had never even heard about.

“I learned a lot about the college application process, actually more than I thought,” said Billingsley. “I know I’m not an expert, but I thought I knew enough. The seminar was a wonderful experience and I would certainly attend another.”