Trojans achieve national academic honor
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has recently qualified six CVHS students as National Merit Semifinalists. This places them in the top 1% of seniors nationally; this means they successfully beat out 1.6 million other students. These high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT include Allen Chin, Ian Lam, Melissa Lam, Samit Rath, Sebastian Sandoval, and Hudson Tien.
Students take the PSAT in October of junior year, but semifinalist announcements come out during early September of their senior year. Then the finalists’ results get released in February.
All of the CVHS semifinalists have recently advanced to finalist status. To qualify as a finalist, these students must have exceptional grades as well as test scores.
These finalists can then proceed to sign up for the 6,930 scholarships offered, the combined worth of which is almost $26 million in total.
At CVHS, the number of semifinalists and finalists has increased over the past few years, showing the improving academic performance.
“I studied and did homework during any short periods of free time I had, and I went to school early every morning to get ahead on homework. I stayed on top of my grades and challenged myself academically, including taking AP and dual enrollment classes,” Sandoval said.
Despite the workload, Sandoval emphasized the importance of balance: “I recognized my own limits. I also made time in my day to relax and do things I enjoy.”
Sandoval demonstrates how a good balance between academics and personal life is important for mental and physical health.
When asked about advice for underclassmen, Sandoval said, “My advice for underclassmen is to hold yourself to a high standard academically and in extracurriculars, but don’t burn yourself out.”
Tien emphasized the importance of loving what you do and surrounding yourself with people who reflect your values. “I earned an internship where I ended up working alongside some of my closest friends. We had the same interests and ambitions,” he said.
Tien had like-minded people he could rely on for support. This healthy environment caused him to be motivated to learn and grow.
The finalists all agree that their motivation and ambition came from their own desires to succeed in academics.
“I don’t mean that people (parents, teachers, friends, etc.) didn’t want me to do well; it’s that I wasn’t satisfied with what they were satisfied with,” explained Tien.
Tien’s ambitions reached beyond those of his parents, teachers, and friends. He had no external pressures on his studies, so he created expectations for himself.
Lam explained how trying your best in everything matters, even if it isn’t your main focus, because you never know where you might succeed.
“I just did my best on the PSAT, and I guess I got a good enough score to qualify,” Lam said.
Though these students all have different paths to success, they all have the common commitment to work hard and achieve to the best of their ability.