Four seniors are a part of 16,000 students around the country to be a National Merit Scholarship Competition, NMSC, Semifinalist.

“I found out when one of my friends came up to me and congratulated and said ‘you’re a national merit scholar semifinalist!’” Larsen said.

Most of the participants for NMSC were juniors who plan to attend college in 2014. The test consists of two 25 minute critical reading sections, two 25 minute math sections, and one 30 minute writing skills section. The reward for the winners of the competition is scholarship money. The largest reason Larsen took the exam is because one of her family members was a finalist.

“My mom was a [National Merit Scholar], which is the reason why I took the test. So I kind of knew what to expect,” Larsen said. “I didn’t prepare; I just took it because, why not?”

Most schools offer an abundance of money for National Merit Scholars. If Larsen becomes a finalist, she can get thousands of dollars from one of her dream school.

“One of my top schools, Baylor University in Texas, gives [finalists] $36,000 per year, which would help out a lot,” Larsen said.

This year, LZHS has four NMSC Semifinalists, seniors David Crisler, Julia Kuhn, Alexa Larsen, and Lauren McKee.

ASF Part 1: These are the other three Semifinalists and each quote will be accompanied by a headshot of the person.

Julia Kuhn: “I’m excited because it’s an honor to be recognized out of all the people that took the test.”

Lauren McKee: “Mostly because I’m excited to be a part of such a great group of people, especially from our school. I know the other three people, David, Alexa, and Julia are all amazing in school, so it’s great to be able to count myself as one of them. I’m just excited to be moving forward in the competition, and hopefully I can make it as a finalist.”