LA student 1 of 12 in world to earn perfect AP calculus score

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- More than 300,000 students took the Advanced Placement Calculus AB Exam last year, and a 17-year-old Los Angeles high school student was one of 12 people in the world to earn a perfect score.

Cedrick Argueta, a student at Abraham Lincoln High School, spent countless hours preparing for the AP exam with his teacher, Mr. Yom, hoping to achieve the top score of five.

"He came to my honors algebra as a freshman," Yom said. "He was a bit shy but as soon as I got some of his work, I saw what a bright kid he was."

Argueta said he used a correction binder to solve mistakes to math problems and stayed long hours after school.

"Five was kind of expected," his teacher said. "We kind of joked anything below five would have been a disappointment."

The high school senior earned his score of five, but he never expected to be one of just 12 in the world to do it.

The exam tests the fundamental theories of calculus and is no walk in the park.

Argueta credits part of his amazing achievement to Mr. Yom's method of teaching.

"We are more than just student and teacher - we spend a lot of time, talk about of things, not just math," he said.

And balance is something Argueta said he wants to pass on to future students of Lincoln High.

The high schooler said he hopes other students are inspired by his perfect score to work hard and achieve what may have once seemed impossible.

"As long as you try, keep trying and trying," he said. "Put in the effort. Something good will come out of it."

Argueta hopes to get accepted to the California Institute of Technology and pursue a career in rocket science.