Tegan Wright studied hard for the American College Testing entrance exam, but when she attempted it for the first time as a sophomore last year she considered it a practice run.
The Corona Del Mar resident attending JSerra High wound up earning a perfect score though. That’s something only about .2% of over 1.37 million test takers managed that year, in many cases on repeat attempts.
“It was more of a spontaneous idea, rather than the test,” Wright said. “So I was pretty calm. I was energized too, though.”
Her flawless initial performance on the ACT means she won’t have to take it a second time, freeing her up to focus on a junior year packed with advanced placement classes and extracurricular pursuits. She’s currently working on a project for the 2025 Orange County Science Fair about teaching youth to be inclusive and empathetic.
“I haven’t received a lot of teaching about conflict resolution and how we include people,” Wright said. “And I think starting that at a young age would make the difference for many kids. I was lucky that I had two parents who were on my back about how you treat other people, but I know that’s not the same in all kids’ homes.”
Tegan Wright holds a hefty stack of study materials.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
Wright also has a keen interest in business and dabbles as an investor. Bets she made on Lululemon over the summer have delivered a 30% return so far. She likes to buy into Amazon when it’s low, and she has shares in Ozempic manufaturer Novonordisk in her portfolio.
The projects the JSerra junior has taken on may bear some link to the influence of her parents. Her mother, Mary Wright, spent years as a teacher for the Newport-Mesa School District. Her father, Damon Wright, works in finance.
The couple are constantly in conversation with their only daughter, usually over dinner, about current events, her studies or whatever else might be on her mind. However, they say they’ve tried to take a hands-off approach to her upbringing, allowing her to discover her own interests and talents.
In her free time, Tegan stays fit by running or, whenever possible for the Corona Del Mar native, skiing. She’s a fan of Taylor Swift and says one of her favorite shows is Showtime’s “Billions.” She also competed on the Pegasus School’s debate team, which sharpened her into a cutting rhetorician at an early age. That has occasionally complicated her parents’ efforts to impose curfews and other boundaries.
“She can be very convincing,” Damon Wright said. “She can be persistent. We’re still the parents though, no matter how good your argument is.”
For now, the teen is continuing to explore her interest in business and money matters, possibly considering a career along those lines. But with the support of her family, she’s keeping her options open and looking forward to whatever comes next.
“I’m 17; I don’t have my life figured out or anything,” she said.