S. Selzer
S. Selzer
A Morgan County student won a $10,000 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship and will use it to study business analytics and political science.
Samantha Setzer, of Trinity, will get a $2,500 stipend annually for four years, according to National Merit.
The 17-year-old high school junior is starting college a year earlier than many of her peers and she chalks that up to homeschooling done by her mother, Jessica.
Her father, Jason, is a 3M employee, and 3M is the corporation that will help back the scholarship for Samantha.
Samantha started life in the public school system and attended West Morgan Elementary. But ever since fourth grade she has been homeschooled.
“I loved it,” she said. “I really felt I could study what was important to me and go much more in-depth.
She said her senior year of homeschooling has been grueling.
“This year has been tougher than any other years,” she said. She is taking some Advanced Placement courses that will earn her college credit as long as she scores well. She also took a dual-enrollment course last year with Calhoun Community College.
She learned in mid-March that she had the scholarship, but National Merit announced the scholarship winners Wednesday.
She credits her mother and father for guiding her to this point.
“She was a great student when she was in school,” Samantha said of her mother. “She wanted to homeschool us but my dad wasn’t sure about it. They had to think about it and pray about it. She and dad had taught me to read before kindergarten and do all of this counting.”
She also attended a homeschool co-op where many homeschoolers gather to learn various subjects. She took a few classes there and switched from one homeschool group to another.
Samantha has a younger sister, Sydney, a freshman who plays soccer at West Morgan, and a younger brother, Sawyer, in seventh grade who plays soccer but not with a school yet. Both are homeschooled.
Despite being younger than most high school grads Samantha is looking forward to the future.
“I’m ready to finish high school and go into a new stage of life,” she said. “I feel well-prepared.”
She plans to attend the University of Alabama at Huntsville and study business analytics with a minor in political science.
“I’m inspired by my mom and want to stay at home and homeschool my own kids and study ministries,” she said. “I’m a strong Christian.”
But first she would like to work with a pregnancy resource center, or something like it, and do practical work with a ministry.
Her mother — her teacher — said Samantha has worked hard.
“She has always been a very conscientious and thorough student,” Jessica said. “I think she has always had a love for learning and for working at things until she understood them thoroughly.”
But she wanted more from her daughter than good grades.
“I can say this as her mom and her teacher, she has exemplary character,” Jessica said. “She always tries to include people and make other people feel good about themselves. She’s outgoing and kind to others. I really feel like she has a caring heart for other people.
“I say all the time that I would rather have kids who have character than accolades because how you treat people is more important. I’m prouder of how she treats others than any of the academic accomplishments.”
Jessica said Samantha has always looked at learning as a lifetime achievement.
“Our schooling style was always the idea that we were lifetime learners,” Jessica said. “It wasn’t about a checklist or a certain grade on something. The theme of our little homeschool group was to know God and make him known. We learn things so we can deepen our relationship with God and show others his love. That was our mentality rather than let’s get through this and get a grade like when I was in high school.”
Scholarships awarded through National Merit Scholarship programs are regarded as among the highest academic honors attainable by high school students. Last year, National Merit awarded scholarships valued at more than $33 million to nearly 7,600 qualified students, according to National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s website. Although National Merit underwrites some of the scholarships with its own funds, most awards are provided by independent sponsor organizations.
— jean.cole@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2361
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