Area students named National Merit Scholar semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recently announced the semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program — four of them from Southeast Missouri high schools.

Luke Richey

Luke Richey

Luke Richey, from Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau, Anna Ahrens from Jackson High School, and Andrew Wilde and Yan "Jackie" Zhang from Cape Central High School all have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than 7,000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered in the spring.

Richey said he felt honored to be recognized as a semifinalist. He said he hasn't decided which universities he wants to apply to, but he narrowed down his focus of study to either engineering or law.

"I'm interested in both, but I'm not sure which one which path I'll go down," Richey said.

Anna Ahrens

Anna Ahrens

Ahrens said she was excited to be named a semifinalist.

"I've known people who've been semifinalists in the past and I've always looked up to them because they've been really smart people and really interesting people," Ahrens said. "If I made a finalist, I would feel really proud of everything I've accomplished so far."

Ahrens said she has interests in music, history and foreign languages, but hasn't decided which one she will focus on. She said her school of choice right now is the University of Iowa, but she is also interested in the University of Missouri.

She said she plays violin and piano, as well as playing the oboe in her school's band and sings in the choir. She says if she pursued foreign languages, she would like to be an interpreter, and if she chose history, she would love to work in a museum at the Smithsonian Institution.

Andrew Wilde

Andrew Wilde

Wilde said he wasn't sure what to make of being named a semifinalist.

"It's pretty cool," Wilde said. "I feel like that will help me with college."

Wilde said he is thinking about degrees in either engineering or music. He said he plays violin and piano in his school's symphonic orchestra, and even if he goes with engineering, he'll continue to work on his music skills.

He said he wants to go to a top school such as Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but one "backup" school he's secured is Missouri University of Science and Technology. Wilde said some dream jobs would be in architecture and aerospace.

"It would be cool to be an astronaut but I think I'd be more interested designing spacecraft," Wilde said.

Yan "Jackie" Zhang

Yan "Jackie" Zhang

Zhang said he was a little surprised to be make it as a semifinalist.

"I knew my score was just barely high enough," Zhang said. "I also didn't expect people to think it was such a big deal with all the pictures and interviews."

Zhang said he hopes to attend Harvard Medical School, but he is also looking at Southern Illinois University.

"I want to major in microbiology and work on stem-cell research for cancer treatment," Zhang said.