Strongsville High Students Named National Merit Finalists

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Two new Strongsville High graduates have been named National Merit Scholarship finalists. Samantha Hepp and Dylan Hyun will compete with students nationwide for 7,500 corporate, college and NMS scholarships.

Both Hepp and Hyun are members of the Strongsville High Class of 2020.

Hepp will be attending Case Western Reserve University to study mechanical engineering. She was this year's Phi Beta Kappa recipient. She played violin in the Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Strings. She was a member of National Honors Society, Key Club, French Honors Society and Rho Kappa (the Social Studies Honor Society) and president of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honors Society) and co-president of French Club. She was a six-time gold medalist with the "Heartbeats" Jump Rope team.

“There have been so many teachers that are so passionate about what they do and have inspired me to become the best I can be, and I’ve had so many laughs and memories with friends that I’ll treasure forever. High school was a lot of hard work and late nights studying, but I’ll always look back on these four years with a smile. I can’t imagine having a better foundation for the future than all of my time at SHS,” said Hepp.

Hyun will be attending Stanford University to study ecology and ethics. During his time at Strongsville High he was a member of the marching and jazz bands and created the school's philosophy club

“It was not the academics at Strongsville High School that shaped who I am today. It was the teachers who helped me understand the world. The faculty who helped me navigate the world. And my peers who offered fresh perspectives that changed the way that I think about the world. The people I met and the relationships we shared constructed a new understanding of education for me: we learn most not from the books we read, but from the conversations we share,” Hyun.