Josh Erched, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is November’s Scholar of the Month. Erched is a well-rounded student who manages a rigorous course load with several extracurricular activities.

As a senior, Erched has selected to take on a challenging academic schedule packed with multiple Advanced Placement courses including AP European History, AP Statistics, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism, AP Literature and AP Psychology. Along with these six AP classes, Josh has opted to take a few additional online classes through Broward College.

In order to decide which courses to take this year, Erched turned to his brother, an MSD alumnus, and Julia Suconic, last year’s valedictorian, for additional advice.

“I followed my brother’s rigorous schedule. Although it’s not that original, I love all the difficult classes I took,” Erched said. “For senior year, I wanted to take harder ones because I wanted to challenge myself even more. With help from [the Class of 2020] valedictorian Julia Suconic, I was able to craft it perfectly.”

Erched is involved in numerous school clubs, acting as the President of MSD’s Key Club, the Co-Vice President of National Honor Society and the Senior Class Vice President.

Having to balance advanced classes and multiple extracurriculars, Erched has had to learn how to efficiently study and complete his work. In order to do so, he likes to delegate his time in a manner that he knows will work best for him.

“I take a lot of breaks and do work around 10% of the time. It’s better to work when you’re most productive so you get to complete your assignments in the least amount of time,” Erched said. “I also like to exercise because it relieves stress and helps concentration, especially when feeling tired.”

In order to be successful in his academics, Erched believes it is most important to remember not to stress.

“I spent most of my junior year unnecessarily stressing. Everything works out in the end, even if you procrastinate,” Erched said. “Remember to work at your own pace and to try your best.”

Erched’s current goals are to score at least a 1500 on the SAT and to pass his AP exams in May of 2021. He has plans to take the SAT on Friday, Nov. 20, and dedicates a large portion of his free time preparing for it.

Erched hopes to be awarded a scholarship from a college in Florida or attend a Top 20 school, as determined by U.S. News, in order to pursue a career in engineering.