Anna O’Brien, DSHA ’25, and Delaney Scott, DSHA ’25, were named National Merit Semifinalists in the 70^th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, a designation given to only one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

In 2023, over 1.3 million junior students from approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which serves as an initial screening of potential candidates. The National Merit Semifinalists include the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

At DSHA, O’Brien is involved in the SMART (Students Modeling a Research Topic) Team co-curricular, Science Olympiad co-curricular, DSHA Varsity Tennis, Diving Strings Ensemble, Student Council, and serves as a Student Auction leader. She hopes to pursue a career in STEM upon graduation. “I loved my AP Biology class and plan to study biology in college. I am hoping to one day get a job in the medical field as a physician’s assistant or a doctor. [Science Faculty Stacey] Strandberg is really supportive of me too. She was dedicated to helping me succeed and is very passionate about the subject she teaches, inspiring me to learn more about biology in the future,” O’Brien said.

Scott is involved in Student Council Communications, Campus Ministry Council, the Art Studio co-curricular, Yearbook co-curricular, and DSHA Theatre. She hopes to pursue a degree in marketing upon graduation. “I’m excited about the writing and creative skills I’ve learned from my DSHA AP English & Art classes to transfer over to my college studies. I also think my research experience and interpersonal skills I’ve learned from my Journalism [Journalism – 4175] class will be a unique resource for me in the field of marketing,” Scott shared.

Moving forward, semifinalists have the opportunity to continue in the competition to be named National Merit Finalists. The finalists will be selected based on their academic record, school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors, and awards received. Following, all National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from the group of finalists, at which time scholarships will be awarded to approximately half of the finalists. The winners of 2025 will be announced April through July. The scholarship recipients will join the 382,000 prestigious students who have earned the Merit Scholar title over the past 70 years.