Published 10:45 pm Tuesday, September 16, 2025
By Jordan Green
The United States has about 3.9 million high school seniors. About 1.3 million of them entered the National Merit Scholarship Program competition this past year.
About 16,000 of them scored well enough on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, to become 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists – one of the most prestigious academic honors in the country.
And of those 16,000, there’s one in the Longview area: Emily Willadson.
Emily, a Pine Tree Pirate, has had a knack for math since she was in fifth grade, and she quickly became competitive. Her drive, rigorous studying habits and the help of her educators have placed her in the top 1% of high school students across the nation. She scored a 1560 on the SAT; the maximum score is 1600.
“It’s just exciting to know that I did so well, and it’s good to have some kind of recognition,” Emily said. “I did put a lot of work into it.”
Emily has attended Pine Tree ISD since she was in kindergarten. Her older brother, Bryce, was adept at math and science, and she has followed in his footsteps, she said.
Emily has been a member of Pine Tree’s UIL math and science team, and she has taken part in competitions hosted by the Texas Math and Science Coaches Association. She has placed second or third in state-level competitions consistently.
Preparing for those intellectually athletic events requires a great deal of mental exercise. Emily and her teammates memorize mathematical formulas, and they have to solve problems quickly. Those skills helped her on the SAT, she said.
All that might sound stressful to those who aren’t mathematically inclined. But for Emily? “It’s not really stressful because I don’t pressure myself,” she said.
“I know I’m giving my best, so I know that whatever comes out of it is going to reflect that. So, I don’t stress myself beyond that.”
Becoming a National Merit Semifinalist isn’t based solely on a SAT score. A student must submit a detailed scholarship application showing academic record, participation in school and community events, leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards, according to the organization. The student also must have the endorsement of a high school official.
While Emily has been successful, she’s also had some losses. Those have been helpful. She was used to winning first place in competitions before she got into high school. Then the competition increased. She didn’t always come in first place anymore.
“I went down to second or third, which seems like a small thing, but it felt like a big deal,” Emily said. “But that’s kind of taught me to be able to handle not being the best or not having a perfect result.”
Her score on the SAT, however, was nearly perfect. The test has a reading and writing section as well as a mathematics section. Willadson took two practice exams: one in middle school and one during her sophomore year of high school. The final test was in the spring.
“If I didn’t study, it would have been rough, because I did have to teach myself some stuff that I hadn’t seen before,” Emily said. (She also got a good night’s sleep before the final exam.)
Emily thanked the authority figures in her life for being sources of inspiration. She also credited her friends with helping her succeed.
“The people I surround myself with are also really smart, so that brings more competitiveness to it,” she said. “They pushed me to be better.”
Emily learned that she was a semifinalist the week of Sept. 8. She was standing in line at Catfish Village one day when she got a call from her teachers.
“It was pretty cool,” she said. “I was really happy, but I wasn’t shocked because I saw my score and my percentiles, but I totally forgot that was a thing. So, I was pretty excited about it.”
About 95% of semifinalists become finalists, putting them in the running for roughly 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth roughly $26 million, according to the organization. Roughly half of the semifinalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, making them Merit Scholars.
Scholarship winners will be named in the spring and summer of 2026. So, Emily has some waiting to do. But Pine Tree High School counselors Katy Rue and Heather Hernandez said they’re confident she’ll be a winner.
Emily said she plans to attend college and work in the biostatistics field – analyzing the results of clinical trials to determine what, if anything, the statistical results mean.
“I’m interested in biostatistics because it feels like a way to help, in a way that fits me,” she said.
For students who want to attain similar academic success, Emily has this advice: “Don’t be afraid to work. Sometimes, you just think, ‘Oh, it’s so much work’ you don’t even try it. But it’s not as bad when you actually try. And also, to be your own self. You don’t need to be a perfect academic weapon.”
Academic weapon. Her counselors loved that phrase.
“That is your nickname for the rest of the year,” Rue, a 12th grade counselor at Pine Tree High, said during Emily’s interview.
Not all students are academic stars, but they can always improve their situation. For students who’ve struggled academically – perhaps they’ve had a harder life – Emily offers this: “I would say that they need to find their passion. Once you find your passion, it’s easy and it’s very rewarding, and you find a lot of yourself in it, and you get to know yourself and grow confidence.”
Rue has graded Emily’s math tests before, and she said Emily has “worked her way to get where she is.” Emily isn’t the only one who works hard, however. All the members of the math and science team are high-caliber students, Rue said.
“They get up on Saturday morning bright and early and get here at 8 a.m. to take math tests,” Rue said. “Any kid that is motivated to do that … that says a lot about them, about how driven they are and motivated.”
Emily and her peers are what Pine Tree ISD is all about, Rue said.
“Our whole philosophy at Pine Tree is community and building each other up and setting our kids up for the best future they can have,” she said. “She’s representing the whole area, which makes all of us extremely proud. And she’s a great representation of Pine Tree.”
Howdy! I’m Jordan Green, a Report for America corps member covering underserved communities in East Texas for the Longview News-Journal. I’m a native Okie and have been a newsman since 2017. Email me at jordan.green@news-journal.com or call me at 903-237-7743.
