Ossining Senior Thrilled to Be a National Merit Semifinalist

Ossining High School senior Pujita Sunder is a semifinalist in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

On Wednesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced the names of about 16,000 semifinalists across the country. They represent less than 1 percent of high school seniors, according to the organization.

More than 1.5 million juniors in 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2018. The semifinalists scored the highest on the exam in their respective states.

Pujita, 17, said she had been crossing her fingers that she would be selected. “It’s really exciting,” she said. “I was really hoping for it.”

She will continue in the competition, which awards some 7,600 scholarships worth more than $31 million.

Semifinalists submit scholarship applications that include details of their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership experience, employment, and awards and honors. They must have an exceptional high school academic record and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their outstanding performance on the 2018 test. They also must submit an essay and a recommendation from a high school official.

Pujita is a versatile student who likes all subjects in school. “I always aim to take academically challenging courses, and I strive to excel in them,” she said.

She is in her third year of the Science Research Program, and her project is in child psychology. She has investigated how children ages 7-9 and 15-17 feel about themselves in comparison to their peers, particularly in a diverse environment.

“I really love the program,” she said. “I feel like it has really helped me grow as a person in addition to all the other classes I’ve taken.”

Pujita is active in school extracurricular activities and in the community. She belongs to the Book Club, the National Honor Society and the National Art Honor Society. She also does peer tutoring when she can.

At the Ossining Public Library, Pujita helps teach an English Conversation for New Learners class. Over the summer, she designed and taught the five-week STEAM Explorers! program for children ages 5-9. The STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) projects included fun, hands-on activities like making slime and building with different shapes and materials to see which ones were most stable, as well as a discussions of the science behind them.

“I’m very thankful for all the support I received in this initiative,” she said.

Pujita also is a teacher for Education in Human Values, a character education program in which children learn about the importance of truth, right action, peace, non-violence and love. She works with kids who are 6-9 years old, and she is in her final year as a student in the program.

“Growing up in that program was a tremendous benefit to me,” she said.

About 15,000 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level. They will learn in February if they are finalists. The National Merit Scholarship Corp. will select the winners based on their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies. It will announce the winners in several groups between April and July.

National Merit Scholarships include 2,500 scholarships of $2,500 apiece that are handed out on a state-representational basis; approximately 1,000 corporate-sponsored scholarships; and about 4,100 college-sponsored awards.