And he did. He graduated at the top of his class.

VOA: special.2009.11.01

Ben Carson soon became the top student in his class.

VOA: special.2009.09.04

She finished at the top of her class.

VOA: special.2010.05.09

He would try to explain it this way when students asked for a top grade just for studying hard in chemistry class: What if a baseball player came to spring training and worked harder than all the others, but still could not play well.

VOA: special.2009.03.12

"She is,in fact,the American dream. Out of a housing project comes this women who ends up at the top of her class at Princeton .

VOA: standard.2009.05.31