Senior Alicia Chow has been named a National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winner in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. Dana Petteys, HPA's interim dean of academics, made the announcement.
Chow is one of 2,500 Merit Scholar designees chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state's percentage of the nation's graduating high school seniors.
These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
Chow, the daughter of Ivan Chow and Lynda Chao of Kamuela, is fluent in English and Mandarin, one of the top writers in her class, and an excellent photographer. She is fascinated with understanding how humans communicate their most important messages and has initiated four self-directed research projects. In linguistics, she has studied Latin and translation theory independently and through Stanford's summer program; in anthropology, she is analyzing and comparing various aspects of Hawaiian, Greek, and Roman mythologies; in information technology, she is evaluating the school's current use of social media and offering suggestions for improvement; in independent novel writing, she is working on a seven-part fantasy/science fiction novel series. She will attend the University of California Berkeley this fall.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants. On April 19, HPA senior Thomas Yoo was named the winner of the National Merit Delphi Foundation Scholarship.
Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.