TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Five students from Terre Haute South High School were selected as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Students selected: Arjun Bhatia, Anthony Chapman, Clara Noxon, Courtney Powell, Benjamin Spencer.
For 70 years, the program has helped decorated high school students step into their futures. Senior Courtney Powell says it will help her enter a competitive field.
“This will definitely help with getting into colleges, or there’s a program being offered at IU Indianapolis, University of Evansville, USI, and ISU, and it is a direct admissions program to med school. It’s very, very select,” Powell said. “I think only eight kids are at University of Evansville, so this would definitely help put me on a higher pedestal than other applicants.”
These five students were part of the 1.3 million that entered their names for consideration. That number is now down to just over 16,000. Principal Tim Herrin says the achievement shows how industrious the students and faculty are at the school.
“We’re just excited for them,” Herrin said. “The hard work that they put in, having five students that represent 1% of all the students in the country is a huge honor for them, all the hard work they do, but as a school, it recognizes that we do have a good staff, that they’ll reach out, help students reach their fullest potential. That’s always been the goal here at South.”
Senior Arjun Bhatia says that it feels nice to receive recognition for work in the classroom, and he is proud to be part of this select group.
“I think this award, it’s sort of like an amalgamation of all that the five of us have done to get to where we are,” Bhatia said. “All of those hours we’ve put in, all the support we’ve got from our friends, like Courtney said. It’s a great honor to be here with all of them.”
According to a news release, more than 15,000 students are expected to advance to the finalist level of consideration. Those students will be notified in February.
