By Keona Munowenyu
In early September it was announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) that our fellow students here at Sheyenne High School: Henry Christiansen, Krishna Kamalakannan, and Grace Widjaja were selected to be National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.
Approximately 1.5 million high school students enter the program each year. But only 16,000 people are chosen to be semifinalists in this difficult competition.
If our fellow Sheyenne students move forward to the finalist round they will be notified in February and be one of some 15,000 Semifinalists that have advanced to the Finalist standing. Following this important date is May 11, 2022 when the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship Winners are officially announced.
Other than this scholarship’s high competition count, what makes this scholarship so special in particular is what these students had to do to even be remotely considered for this great honor.
“The mission of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as announced on their website is to recognize and honor the academically talented students of the United States. According to their website of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program.”
Luck has little to do with how these students are selected. All winners of Merit Scholarship awards (Merit Scholar designees) are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. Plenty of information is evaluated by the NMSC including but not limited to the high school official’s written recommendation and the Finalist’s own essay.
The enduring goals of the NMSC’s scholarship programs are:
To promote a wider and deeper respect for learning in general and for exceptionally talented individuals in particular.
To shine a spotlight on brilliant students and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence at all levels of education.
To stimulate increased support from individuals and organizations that wish to sponsor scholarships for outstanding scholastic talent.
Goals that are illuminated by their careful process of choosing the proper recipients for this prestigious award.
For those of you who are juniors and younger here at Sheyenne High School and are remotely interested in this scholarship the semifinalists themselves have words of wisdom to offer.
Grace helps people accomplish their goals as president of the Student Council and Speech Team captain.
Henry Christiansen recommends being well prepared for the PSAT because the test itself is very difficult without proper preparation. Since this is one of the major elements that the NMSC looks for when choosing its winners it’s very important this is covered.
It’s said best by Grace Widjaja that you should “Study. Please. Not just for the test, but also study the scholarship and the timeline, what are the different aspects, what else would they require after you qualify, etc.”
Krishna Kamalakannan reports he first got to know of this scholarship “around September or October 2020, when registration for the PSAT began.” So if you are currently a sophomore here at Sheyenne High School I advise you to be proactive and prepare for this scholarship ahead of time.’
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