On Wednesday, Sept. 22, H-F announced to the school that two of our very own students, David Gibek and Carter Langston qualified as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship.

Gibek and Langston both worked very hard to get to the point. The most significant part involves them both taking the PSAT exam last fall and being qualified as some of the highest scoring candidates in the state.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website, there are 16,000 semifinalists in total who are eligible for the finalists position. Of that 16,000, only 15,00 will be considered finalists and about half of them will earn the scholarship, and the others will be sponsored by colleges.

Gibek tells us how he prepared to get this far. 

“It took hard work and discipline. You need to be able to hold yourself accountable and do the right thing, even when nobody’s watching.” Gibek said.

Langston also takes a turn at telling us how he got to this point.

 “I think studying and staying focused in school have been the biggest factors. My parents have also helped me quite a bit. They started making sure we developed good study habits from the time we started kindergarten and always stressed that school was our priority.” Langston said.

The National Merit Scholarship entails a ton of hard work. To even be able to be considered for the scholarship, you have to qualify with a score of at least 215. The most you can get on the PSAT is a 1520.

Gibek earned a 1500, and Langston got a 1510, both coming in really close to each other.

It is a pleasure for H-F to house students that have come this far in the National Merit Scholarship process.

Gibek tells us how grateful he is for this opportunity.

“I am very proud of my performance on the PSAT. To be recognized for my academic ability is such an honor. However, I couldn’t do it alone. The truth is, I have been very blessed. From the very beginning, my teachers and parents have given me the guidance I needed to succeed. Most importantly, true intelligence and wisdom doesn’t come from within, but from above.”

Langston also had an opportunity to share how he feels about himself.

“It feels good. Seeing my hard work pay off is definitely a great feeling.”

The National Merit Scholarship application is due on the sixth of October. We wish our semi-finalists and all the other semi-finalists good luck in their process!