Central High School District Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich said he doesn’t know of any other district student to have ever earned the State AP Scholar award. “In athletic terms,” he said, “Michael’s accomplishment is the equivalent of having one of our students being recognized as the ‘state champion’ in Advanced Placement achievement and, as such, is deserving of the same recognition. Michael’s accomplishment is simply amazing.”

For Yang, while the award is an honor, it doesn’t define who he is. “People are much more than exams and awards,” he said, adding that he wanted to take the AP exams as a way to challenge himself.

Due to his success on AP exams, he entered college with 43 credits, although not all of them were transferable. He plans on studying abroad in Spain next year and landed an internship this winter with an Ithaca-based tech company.

When he graduates, Yang said he would like to work for one of the major companies in the world, like Google or Amazon, but he also wouldn’t mind joining a start-up firm or potentially creating a company of his own.

“We know that there are good things in the future awaiting him,” Henry said.