Kadena student named National Merit semi-finalist

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique Perez
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Kadena Air Base's own Lauren Wolfe has been selected as one of only five Department of Defense Education Activity National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists. 

She is one of 15,000 high school students nationwide who will go on to compete for one of 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million which will be awarded in spring 2009. 

"It feels really good," said Ms. Wolfe, a senior at Kadena High School and daughter of Col. Jon Wolfe, 18th Operations Group deputy commander. "I guess it paid off because I really studied for it. I was surprised when I found out, because I know my score was right on the borderline and I was just hoping that I would make it." 

To advance to the finalist level and be considered for a Merit Scholarship, semifinalists have to meet several requirements. Students have to take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) which screens the initial applicants. 

Semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout all four years of high school, be recommended by their high school principal, and earn qualifying SAT scores. 

On top of that, students must submit a scholarship application and self-descriptive essay detailing their participation and leadership in school activities and community involvement. Ms Wolfe certainly fits the bill, having been involved in cross country and soccer, the National Honor Society, and a variety of clubs and community service activities through both the school and church. 

Ms. Wolfe's father knows very well the significance of his daughter's achievement. Being a National Merit Scholarship finalist opens the doors to a wide variety of choices for the students because colleges want that distinction in their schools, said Col. Wolfe. The prestige of having so many National Merit Scholarship finalists or semi-finalists attending that college is enough of an incentive for them to offer full academic scholarships. 

"It's a really good incentive to make me want to try harder to make finalist," said Ms. Wolfe. "It gives me more options; I can pretty much choose where to go to school now."
She is planning on attending the University of Alabama with her sister who is currently a student there and herself a National Merit Scholarship finalist. 

"Our whole family is really proud of Lauren because we've motivated her to try to succeed," said Col. Wolfe. "She's done well and been really diligent with her schoolwork. She has spent a lot of effort on her extra-curricular activities and done a good job of juggling her priorities to achieve this first goal, so we're extremely proud of her." 

The National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced between April and July 2009.