Five students at Leesville Road High School were selected to be 2014 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists.
One was selected from Millbrook and three from Broughton. Enloe led the CAP-8 with a grand total of 15 nominees — not all that surprising, considering it is an established magnet school.
The semifinalists from Leesville are Juan Esteller, Sarah Arney, Kurtis Konrad, Kelly Pring and Ben Pope.
To put it in perspective, the national merit scholarship program is a program in which you apply to via taking the PSAT/NMSQT to qualify. Then, out of those thousands of applicants, around 16,000 students are selected as semifinalists and these semifinalists usually represent the top 1% of that state’s senior students.
Those selected for the program are eligible to receive scholarship(s) from the program. Simply put, this achievement is a very large accomplishment, so it is easy to see how it is a top honor for a student.
“I felt very honored to be selected as a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist and really proud that my hard work in school has paid off,” said Pring.
Juan Esteller, current co-class leader, was honored by the award, but he admits he has been working at it for quite some time.
“I’m thrilled to participate in this program,” he said. “I know former qualifiers who received full scholarships so I hope to find similar offers. And, my brother did not qualify by a narrow margin his junior year so I was anticipating this exam in advance to be able to score higher.”
For the ever comic Ben Pope, he is already looking at how he can use this honor in the near future.
“I’m very thankful for the doors this achievement has opened for me,” he said. “I will certainly be seeking to be a finalist and obtain a scholarship, and I plan to mention this in my college applications, although I’m not exactly planning to put this achievement on my tombstone.”
The results as to who will be a finalist will come out soon, as the semifinalists are finishing up their applications due October 8 needed to achieve finalist status. For a full list of 2014 National Merit Scholars in our area, visit this Davidson News link.
