Recently Totino-Grace honored two students for their academic achievements. Seniors, Michael O’Dea and Hannah Gams were named finalists for the National Merit Scholarship Competition.

The National Merit Scholarship Competition takes place every year amongst over 1.5 million entrants. According to naitonalmerit.org, in order to enter the competition a student must talk with their counselor regarding entry to the competition and then must take the PSAT/NMSQT exam. Based on the results of this exam scholarships will be handed out.

The competition is a long process, with most entrants taking the exam long before even the semi-finalists for that year are announced. The long process tends to be worth it in the end though for Hannah it was the excitement of learning she had been named a finalist while Michael was more focused on the scholarship saying, “ I was surprised I received the award, but I’m happy about it because it helps a little bit with paying for college.”

The two were among only 16,000 of the 1.5 million entrants to receive this recognition. Being recognized for this honor is quite impressive and I would like to congratulate both on the honor.