11 Union Seniors Named National Merit Finalists
TOP STUDENTS: Eleven seniors have been named 2021-2022 National Merit Finalists at Union High School, 6636 S. Mingo Road. They are pictured here: left to right, Ashwin K. Chandrasekar, Tammy H. Dao, Fraz Javed, Meghana Venkatesha, Jacob L. Wise, Class Principal Tony Tempest, Annelise Huynh, Duy H. Nguyen, Honor K. Plumlee, Ariana Kim, Julie T. Phung, and Reeya M. Ramasamy.
Eleven seniors from Union High School have been named 2021-2022 National Merit Finalists: Ashwin K. Chandrasekar, son of Kumaraswamy Chandrasekar and Lakshmi Kalakrishnan Tammy H. Dao, daughter of Bill Dao and Tra Ho; Annelise Huynh, daughter of Liem and Huong Huynh; Fraz Javed, son of Muhammad Javed and Saima Waheed; Ariana Kim, daughter of Yil and Hyun Kim; Duy H. Nguyen, son of Cuong Nguyen and Hanh Hoang; Julie T. Phung, daughter of Tuan Phung and Julia Huynh; Honor K. Plumlee, daughter of Geoffrey and Amber Plumlee; Reeya M. Ramasamy, daughter of Kanesan Ramasamy and Bathmapathy Pkmenon; Meghana Venkatesha, daughter of Kadiri and Rekha Venkatesha, and Jacob L. Wise, son of Benjamin and Jennifer Wise.
These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered this spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, these students, who were named semifinalists last September, had to fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
To participate in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a student must:
Be enrolled full time as a high school student, progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school, and planning to enter college no later than the fall following completion of high school;
Be a citizen of the United States or, if not now a citizen, a permanent U.S. resident (or an applicant for permanent residency) in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen; and
Take the PSAT/NMSQT in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern.
