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The High Arrow

Indiana Area Senior High School

Loughlin Pagnucci Holds the Record for Most College Credits at IHS

By ADDISON MOSCO

Throughout his high school career, Senior Loughlin Pagnucci has acquired 85 college credits. The record used to be 16, but Loughlin changed it to 85 with all of his hard work. 

Loughlin is planning on attending IUP and wants to study economics and political science. After that, Loughlin is planning on attending law school. Doing what he is doing is certainly not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and effort in order to do it. 

Pagnucci comments, “It’s all about time management. I focus on each week at a time, which allows me to plan out what I need to do for the week, and then see when school work would fit. This gives me the freedom to see when I have time to do coursework, and it allows me to see how much work I need to get done each day. I didn’t start taking classes because I wanted to break the record,  I started because I was bored during quarantine during the summer of 2020, so I decided to take two classes at IUP. I continued throughout the summer and into the fall, when I started to take more and more classes each semester until I got to 85 credits. In fact, I didn’t know that I had the record until the beginning of this school year when I met with my guidance counselor about a high school scheduling issue. Overall, I was able to stay focused because I wanted to do well, and I was always very interested in the classes that I was taking.”

Photo courtesy of LIFETOUCH

Loughlin did not have a set goal for what he was doing. He started to get credits by taking classes that he was interested in, economics and government, he just wanted to take as many classes as he could without his grades suffering. He has maintained a 4.0 gpa throughout this school year. 

Loughlin gives advice to people who want to acquire his mindset and start to gather college credits through their high school career. He states, “Time management is the most important thing. Keep up with your work, but make sure you have time for other hobbies and activities. This will prevent you from burning out and having your grade suffer. Don’t procrastinate in an individual week or in a semester. Also, make sure that you take classes that are interesting to you, as that will keep you excited to do the work. Finally, don’t try to take too many classes, especially in one semester.”

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