Two local high school seniors chosen as National Merit semifinalists – WBKO
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – Two Bowling Green High School seniors have been chosen as National Merit semifinalists.
The two students, Finley Hondorp and Kollin Hsieh, are excited for the opportunity to find out if they’ll win one of the many scholarships being awarded in April of next year.
Taking hard work to accomplish, Hondorp says it’s exciting to see something come from the time and effort spent preparing for the big test.
“It’s really exciting,” Hondorp said. “It was a long waiting process because it’s been about a year since we took the test, but it’s really rewarding to see something you worked for and then it ended up working out, and it’s going to open a lot of opportunities.”
Encouraging other students who struggle with tests to not put too much pressure on themselves, Hsieh says, made a big difference for him.
“Don’t overthink it. If you get it wrong, then that’s fine,” Hsieh said. “Whenever I have really bad test anxiety, it’s because I have this big expectation that I need to do well, or else I’m not going to get into college. I’m not going to get good scholarships.”
Bowling Green High School Principal Kyle McGraw is proud of these students and believes any student can accomplish whatever they set their mind to doing with the support system that the school provides.
“Less than 1% of high school seniors accomplish this feat, and I’m glad that our faculty and staff provide an environment where students can achieve this,” McGraw said. “I’m really just proud of the individuals, Kollin and Finley, and what they were able to do on the test that qualified them to be National Merit Semi-finalists.”
The students are hopeful that they will receive a scholarship from the program that can be used in pursuing their future goals.
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