Local students named National Merit semifinalists

Congratulations are in order for four Gulfport High School students. They were recently chosen as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists which includes the top one percent of high school students in the nation.

These deserving students, Lucas Ragula, Jennifer Palma, Katie Ayers, and Robert Geislman, say they have to thank Gulfport High School for really drilling them with PSAT prep courses.

Every junior in the nation takes this National Merit Scholarship qualifying test and out of these only 16,000 are chosen as semifinalists. “They tell us beforehand, you know, the better the score the more doors open for you, but now that I actually have this score it’s like you see firsthand the opportunities that are coming to you and it’s so much more than I thought it was. I’m very excited,” said Palma.

Geislman said, “I know that we’re all looking into different things and just really excited on how we can impact the world and our community in the best way we can.”

About 90 percent of semifinalists are expected to be named finalists and half of the finalists will win National Merit Scholarships.