Oxford Resident Named National Merit Finalist

Sacred Heart Academy senior Tess Cersonsky has received notification from the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program that she has been named a Finalist in the competition. Miss Cersonsky, of Oxford, is the daughter of Mrs. Nancy Cersonsky and the late Dr. Jeffery Cersonsky.

To become a Finalist, students must first be selected as Semifinalists. Semifinalists have outstanding academic records throughout high school, are endorsed and recommended by the school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. Approximately half of the Finalists will be selected as Merit Scholarship winners, earning the Merit Scholar title. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin or religious preference.

There are about 1.5 million students who apply for National Merit Scholar, and of those, about 15,000 are chosen nationwide as finalists, according to the National Merit Scholar website. 

Named a Sr. Antonine Signorelli, ASCJ Scholar for her outstanding entrance exam scores and for demonstrating exceptional academic potential, Tess Cersonsky has earned highest honors since attending Sacred Heart. She is a member of the National Honor, French National Honor, Science National Honor, as well as the National Math Honor Society - Mu Alpha Theta. Actively involved in the school’s musicals, she has earned principal cast parts in both The Wiz and this year as Martha Watson in White Christmas. A member of Honors Chamber Choir, she has served as manager for two years and planned the Academy’s 2012 French Choir Trip. Last summer, she was selected as a Yale Discovery to Cure intern working in the reproductive immunology lab on her project - Developing an in vitro model for implantation. Awards include: The Yale Book Award, Princeton Book Award, Certificate d’Honour in the National French Contest, Second Honors in the CT State Science Fair, and Second Place in the Sacred Heart Science Fair.

Outside of school, Tess enjoys debating and talking politics as well as singing, acting, reading, cooking, speaking French, and helping her mom, a teacher, with her elementary school students.

In the fall, Tess will attend Columbia University, where she was accepted Early Decision.

“I am planning to major in biomedical engineering and a minor in French as an undergrad and hopefully go to medical school down the road," she said. "My Dad was a pediatrician and I am interested in pediatric surgery or research as my experience in the Yale lab this summer was so fascinating." 

Sacred Heart Academy, an independent Catholic college preparatory school for young women in grades 9 – 12, was founded in 1946 by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Academy successfully prepares young women for learning, service and achievement in a global society. There are currently 500 students enrolled from New Haven, Fairfield, Middlesex, Hartford and New London.