Swampscott Student Attending St. John's Prep Earns Merit Scholarship

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Leyad Zavriyev, a Swampscott resident who attends St. John's Prep of Danvers, was one of 840 students nationwide to earn a National Merit Corporation Scholarship in winners that were announced on Wednesday.

Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Zavriyev plans to pursue biotechnology studies in college.

Zavriyev earned the Textron-sponsored scholarship. Textron is based in Providence, Rhode Island with operations focused in aerospace technology, commercial products and financial services.

Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

In September 2022, more than 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state's percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than 1 percent of the nation's seniors.

Semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to finalist standing. Each semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance.

From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 met finalist requirements. By the conclusion of the 2023 competition, more than 7,140 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $28 million.

Winners are the Finalist candidates judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)