A group of intellectually gifted scholars were selected to be apart of the 2016 National Merit Program.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is a non-profit organization that promotes respect for learning in general. Its goal is to shine a spotlight on brilliant students in pursuit of academic excellence, and to stimulate increased support from organizations that wish to sponsor scholarships for students who display outstanding scholastic talent.
These students received a Letter of Commendation for their achievement.
On the back of the award it says,
“your high selection index score places you among the top 50,000 of over 1.5 million students who entered the 2016 National Merit Program by taking the 2014 [PSAT/NMSQT].”
The school also hosted a breakfast for all of the commended students. At the breakfast, they were presented with their awards, that the school kindly provided.
“Mr. Mukai and some counselors were there to congratulate us by shaking our hands, giving us our awards and presented us with a little speech,” said senior Susan Yun
Some students also received the title of ‘Merit scholar’ which comes from the NMSC with scholarships and many other benefits. Senior Arjun Gupta is a National Merit semi-finalist. He recently just received a letter stating that he made it as a finalist.
“To become a finalist, you just have to write an essay and fill out an online form and submit it,” said Gupta.
Gupta was blessed with many benefits, such as full rides to colleges, scholarship money from schools, and acquired the ability to boast about his impressive achievement on his college applications. He received a full ride from Arizona, and University of Dallas Texas offered him full tuition with room, board, and extra spending money.
“That’s just to name a few of the colleges that I heard from,” said Gupta.
All the students who are displayed on the banner in front of the office were informed about doing well on last years’ PSAT last August on their accomplishments.
The award is also one more commodity these students could put on their college applications to make them seem even cooler than they are.
“A special benefit of being a part of the program is that there’s a giant banner with my face on it for everyone to see,” said Yun.
The award itself is a piece of paper congratulating the student on their outstanding performance on the PSAT, with a signature from the President of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and a signature from our Principal, Michael Mukai.
The mission of these awards is to recognize and honor the academically talented students of the United States. Students all over the country are in this program and it shows the brilliance of the young minds and reliances.
There are many scholars who are featured on the NMSC website for being able to challenge themselves to the next level and achieve the goals that they set.
“The academic goal I set for myself was to graduate with a perfect 5.0 GPA. I could have chosen a less challenging goal, and it would have been recognized as academic success by most others, but I knew my potential,” said featured scholar Abigail E. Sharkey.