Tampa Bay National Merit Scholarship Winners Announced

TAMPA, FL — On Tuesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners.

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program.

National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools.

NMSC finances most of these single-payment National Merit $2,500 Scholarships.

Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.

Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
2022 National Merit Scholarship Competition

About 7,500 finalists will earn the “Merit Scholar” title and receive a total of nearly $28 million in college scholarships.

This year's recipients include:

• Daniel J. Urbonas of Land O' Lakes High School who plans to study computer science.
• Lauren E. Novorska of Lutz, who attends Hillsborough High School and plans to study environmental policy.
• Shriya R. Buragadda of Tampa, who attends Middleton High School and plans to study biomedical engineering.
• Angela Jiang of Tampa, who attends King High School and plans to study medicine.
• Ishita Mishra of Tampa, who attends King High School and plans to study law.
• Anya K. Patidar of Tampa, who attends King High School and plans to major in biology.
• Arlie J. Rubin of Tampa, who attends Plant High School and plans to major in business.
• Priya L. Sambasivan of Tampa, who attends Robinson High School and plans to pursue oncology.
• Hayden K. Stern of Tampa, who attends Plant High School and plans to major in environmental policy.
• Ashwatha Suresh of Tampa, who attends King High School and plans to major in biomedical engineering.
• Zachary M. Reich of Temple Terrace, who attends Jesuit High School and plans to major in marketing.
• Leonid Alexeyev of Trinity, who attends Mitchell High School and plans to study computer science.
• Sherry M. Habib of Clearwater, who attends Palm Harbor University High School and plans to major in art history.
• Dhruv K. Kapadia of Gulfport, who attends Berkeley Preparatory School and plans to major in political science.
• Kasha A. Tyranski of Gulfport, who attends St. Petersburg High School and plans to major in economics.
• Angela N. Li of Oldsmar, who attends Palm Harbor University High School and plans to pursue the foreign service.
• Hailey A. Sherrell of Oldsmar, who attends Palm Harbor University High School and plans to study law.