Toms River North Grad Awarded National Merit Scholarship

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River High School North graduate has received a National Merit Scholarship from the University of Southern California.

Jena Bhandari, a 2022 graduate, was among 1,200 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities, officials with the National Merit Scholarship Program announced Monday.

The students are selected by each college or university from among the finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution, program officials said.

The awards are between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

Bhandari, a National Merit Scholarship finalist, was secretary of the Class of 2022 and a September 2021 Student of the Month at Toms River North. The biography honoring her said she was a writing center tutor, and was a reporter for Future Business Leaders of America. She was a member of the Acts of Kindness Society, the Captain’s Crew, and participated in girls track program. She was a member of the National Honor Society and honored as an FBLA Marketing Roleplay National Finalist.

She also finished second in the Monmouth University Computer Science Competition.

The National Merit Scholarship Program listed her potential major as software engineer; her student of the month biography said she was planning to major in a STEM field with an emphasis in environmental sustainability.

Bhandari was one of more than 16,000 students who achieved National Merit Scholarship semifinalist status, as the highest-scoring program entrants in each state; they were less than 1 percent of the nation’s seniors.

To become a finalist, each semifinalist had to complete a detailed scholarship application,
which included writing an essay, describing leadership positions and contributions in school
and community activities, showing an outstanding academic record, and being endorsed and
recommended by a high school official. Semifinalists also had to take the SAT or ACT and earn
scores that confirmed their performance on the initial qualifying test.

About 15,000 achieved finalist status, and about half of the finalists received scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Program.