By Amelia Mower – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law High School Senior Arunika Shee has been named a 2020 National Merit Commended Scholar.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic-based competition based on PSAT scores in the United States. Out of approximately 1.6 million entries, the top 50,000 students qualify for recognition as a National Merit Scholar.

“I don’t feel any different, but seeing it on paper and hearing it in person really made it sink in,” said Shee. “It’s really rewarding to see hard work pay off.”

In September, 34,000 of these students, including Shee, were selected to be National Merit Commended Scholars. With this status, students are nationally recognized and can qualify for special scholarships from certain businesses and corporations. 

“Not many students from Law have achieved this before,” Law Guidance Counselor Ms. Raymo said. 

The PSAT is broken down into mathematics, reading, and writing sections. Reading and writing scores are combined with math scores to earn a score out of 1600 possible points. 

Shee believes skills acquired in taking classes such as AP Language and Composition helped her on the exam. 

“We practiced close reading and inferencing,” English teacher Ms. Hanson said. “Analyzing text is important.”

Mathematics skills are built upon during high school from basic algebra to advanced manipulation of more complex equations. On the PSAT, there are calculator and non-calculator sections which challenge the students taking it. 

“Algebra II is more of an integrating the questions in the curriculum into the tests and do-nows,” said math teacher Mr. Ruzbarsky. 

Jonathan Law Principal Mr. Thompson is thrilled with all of the hard work and dedication students have been putting in over the past nine years he has been the Principal.

“I am so proud of Arunika because she really embodies everything about what we want for a Law student,” Thompson said. “She makes the most of her academic and high school experience.”

Shee plans on furthering her education with a getting a degree in Biomedical Engineering or Molecular Biology and attending medical school. 

“I’m really interested in scientific research and the creation of medical devices,” said Shee. “I would love to help solve medical problems in the future.”