Years of hard work and dedication have paid off for one North Pike High School senior who has been selected as a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.
Taylor Thompson, daughter of Scott and Hope Thompson, may be North Pike High School’s first National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, according to school officials.
Superintendent Dr. Ben Cox said he can’t remember having a semifinalist during the time he has been at North Pike, which stretches back to the 1990s, when he was the high school principal.
There are no other semifinalists from Pike County this year, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which awards the highly competitive scholarships to 8,300 students annually.
Taylor, a senior, is beyond well-prepared for the next step.
“I always pay attention in class and do all of my homework,” Taylor said.
Her mother Hope said instead of asking to watch TV, she would ask if she could go read a book.
“She is not your typical teenager with her spare time,” Hope said.
Taylor started preparing for college entrance exams when she was in the ninth grade and scored a 28 on her ACT when she was a sophomore.
She has raised that score to a 32 — four points from perfect — and is striving for more, she said.
Taylor’s hard work has paid off, as she is one of 16,000 people who have received notice that she had been selected as a semifinalist for the prestigious scholarship.
To qualify for the scholarship program, Taylor had to score high enough on the National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Taylor will find out in the spring if she has been chosen as a finalist.
The senior attributes her success to the teachers at North Pike.
“I think my score was what it was because of my teachers,” Taylor said. “They prepared me very well.”
Her study habits also helped her achieve a high score.
Taylor said she studies anywhere from 30 minutes to three or four hours a day.
Taylor hopes to possibly attend the University of Southern Mississippi, but she hasn’t ruled out the idea of going to an out-of-state school.
She does, however, face the same dilemma as other teens — she is still unsure of her major.
“I have thought about a lot of things,” she said.
No matter what she chooses, she plans to go to graduate school after she finishes her undergraduate studies, she said.
