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ALEXANDRIA — It started as a pool of over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools across the U.S.
Then it became a pool of National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, “representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, [including] the highest-scoring entrants in each state.”
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According to a news release sent out by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), “The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.”
Which is a roundabout way of saying “and Alexandria has one.”
Meet Ning Zhang.
The 17-year-old high school senior says becoming a National Merit Scholar was on her radar — sort of. “Being a national merit scholar was just kind of on my radar a little bit. It wasn’t necessarily at the forefront of my mind the whole time. You have to take the pre- SAT to qualify for it and I was just, like, ‘Why not? I’ll take a try at it — see where this ends up.’”
According to a news release from Alexandria Public Schools, “Zhang is among more than 16,000 semifinalists nationwide. The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The students will compete for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.”
Zhang says she’s always thought of herself as a good student, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a lot of hard work, too. “Mostly in all my classes I get all As. I I turn in my work on time, I’m very respectful, but because I’ve worked so hard throughout my whole schooling career, it’s brought me to like the end result today, I guess.”
And unlike the “brainiac” students we see on TV and in the movies, Zhang says she hasn’t had to make a trade-off between good grades and other parts of her life as a high school student.
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“I still have a great balance between my schooling, my extra curricular involvement, my sports, staying active, being with family and friends,” she says. “At some points I do have to value or take seriously one part over another. But I always have other time for other things and I think it’s just — you always make time for the things that you value in your life.
“If I have a big test coming up or a big project, I might have to focus in on school for a little bit,” she says, “or if I have a big competition coming up I might have to focus on sports for a little bit — it’s just kind of a give-and-take. But at the end of the day, I still have a lot of time for everything that I want to do in my life.”
At this time of year, some of what Zhang wants to do in her life includes her spot on the varsity swimming team. So that means everything else has to happen after practice. “Usually I’ll get home around 6: 30 and I’ll have dinner and I’ll relax for a few minutes, but obviously my homework is a pressing issue and I need to get it done for the following day. So I try to set down my phone and get to my homework.”
And if that sounds exhausting, it’s in part because of Zhang’s cultural traditions and the kind of people her parents are.
“My parents are originally from China,” she says. “They’re very hard-working and I think they had those [habits] instilled in them as they grew up, and they definitely passed that along to me. When I was younger, they would make sure I would get done with my homework and make sure I was doing the right things, but as I’ve progressed throughout high school, they’ve been more on the sidelines as someone who I can go to for advice or help. I would say they definitely instilled their spirit of hard work and grit in me.”
But Zhang does not envy her cousin, for example, who is living and going to school in China. “[She is] pretty much the same age that I am and [the Chinese] approach to schooling is very rigorous. She wakes up and she goes to school and then all she does is study or do something related to that all day. I think that can be very taxing on someone. That’s the way that my parents grew up, but now it’s kind of a culture shift, now that we’re living in America. I definitely value the schooling system in America, where there is an emphasis on schooling, but there’s still time to go do fun things with your friends or get involved in activities or sports that are outside of school.”
Even so, Zhang has those days when doing all the things are harder than usual. “I’m not a perfect person, either. There’ve been days where I really don’t want to study or I want to procrastinate or I just really don’t want to do it. Those are the days where I can push myself and say ‘Let’s try to get something else done instead of this one paper that you’re procrastinating on.’”
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And she’s not immune to — or free from — pressure, either. ”I think I have a great balance in my activities and my schooling, but I still think sometimes when it gets to crunch time, I do feel pressure sometimes. There’s definitely pressure from your peers around you to succeed, like they’re always watching you, ‘Oh what did she get on this test?’ My parents want me to succeed so they do put a little bit of pressure on, but most of the time it’s helpful in helping [me] work hard and get through whatever I need to do.”
And here’s some advice from a young person who absolutely knows what they’re talking about when it comes to time management: “If you know that you’re going to have assignments or due dates in advance, try to get it done as soon as possible. Just staying on top of things is super-important. [If you don’t], you tend to get really stressed. If you try to finish things in advance, or just do a little bit every single night, it just kind of builds up and you really won’t have much to do at all.”
So what’s next for this National Merit Semifinalist? “In order to become a finalist now, I have to write an essay and then further submit my updated ACT/SAT scores,” Zhang says. “I’ve just been working on this process with my counselor at the high school. I have to have everything submitted, I think, by Oct. 8, and then I would find out in the spring if I become a finalist or I’d qualify for one of those merit scholarships.”
And what about next year? “I’m definitely interested in the medical field,” she says. “I think I plan on becoming a doctor or a dentist. As for college next year, I’m not super-set on one place that I want to go. I’ve definitely been looking into schools and doing tours and researching schools online, but I’m not dead set on a certain school yet.
“As for distance from college to home, I’m not necessarily factoring in that,” she continues. “I’m definitely applying to schools that are in the Midwest and a little bit on the East Coast and a few on the West Coast so I guess I’ll make that decision when I get in or I know what my options are. But for now I’m just keeping an open mind.”
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