Is it any wonder, then, that she's chosen anthropology as her college major when she enters the University of Alabama this fall?
"I want to study different cultures and different aspects of life around the globe," explained the 18-year-old Clinton resident. "Anthropology relates to sociology and archaeology. It's the bridge between them."
The 2007 Clinton High graduate is one of 36 Mississippians who are among more than 2,200 spring winners of National Merit Scholarship Corp. awards financed by colleges and universities.
And, a dozen Mississippi students graduating this spring are National Achievement Scholarship Program award winners.
Evanston, Ill.-based National Merit sponsors two scholarship competitions in which finalists are chosen based on their scores on a qualifying test. While National Merit's National Achievement program is only for black U.S. high school seniors, the corporation's National Merit competition is for students of all races, corporation officials say.
Earlier this spring, National Merit announced additional winners of both corporate-sponsored scholarships and one-time, $2,500 awards from National Merit's own funds. The corporation also recently announced its finalists in the National Achievement program.
Positan's National Merit award at the University of Alabama means "my college is paid for. I don't have to worry about paying back student loans," she said.
"And, they're giving me a laptop. I'm pretty happy," she said.
Sponsor colleges and universities in both the National Merit and National Achievement programs selected their scholarship winners from among finalists enrolling at their institutions.
A fourth group of National Merit finalists who will receive scholarships through the program will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored recipients in the 2007 National Merit competition to about 4,600.
College-sponsored awards vary but generally provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study. Sponsor colleges and universities include 115 private and 79 public institutions located in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
This spring, about 8,200 distinguished high school seniors nationwide will receive Merit Scholarship awards worth $34 million for college undergraduate study. More than 800 seniors nationwide are receiving National Achievement awards valued at a total $2.5 million. Their road to becoming semifinalists, then finalists, began when they joined thousands of high schoolers in their junior year who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Semifinalists were chosen on a state representational basis, in numbers proportional to each state's percentage of the nation's high school graduating seniors. Semifinalists were the highest scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of a state's seniors.
From the semifinalists, finalists were chosen based on outstanding academic records, recommendations by educators, SAT scores and an essay describing their activities, interests and goals.Labels: financial aid, free education, high school, scholarship, student loans |
