Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

Happy Valley High School student Jackson Taylor  was recognized as a semifinalist for a Merit Scholarship award by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Taylor is one of around 16,000 students in the nation to receive the title National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, a designation based on PSAT scores.

“I took the PSAT last Fall, and The NMSC reached out to me in late September of this year to let me know that I qualified to be a semifinalist, so it took about a year’s worth of time for me to find out about this recognition,” Taylor said.

However, Taylor is not finished as there are more steps to take to move forward in the Merit Scholar process. “I recently sent in an application to move forward in the process and hopefully move from semifinalist to finalist. Around 95 percent of semifinalists become finalists and move on to the next stage.”

“After the finalist stage, the NMSC takes a look at your involvement in the community, your after-school activities, as well as an essay that you write, and decide from there whether or not you become a Merit Scholar.”

Taylor said around half of finalists for the National Merit Scholarship actually receive the various scholarships available from either the NMSC themselves, the higher education institution being attended, or from corporations involved with the program.

Taylor says he is excited for the opportunity, one in which he will know the final results of next year in early 2022.