Hanford & Richland High Seniors Named National Merit Finalists

Nicholas Change, Hannah Chavala, Cassandra Lam and Johnnie Norsworthy have earned a distinction few other high school seniors ever achieve: National Merit Finalist.

The Hanford and Richland high schools eniors were recently notified of their status and provided the Certificates of Merit awarded to National Merit Finalists. Of the roughly 1.5 million students who enter the National Merit Scholarship competition annually only 15,000—1 percent—are named finalists.

The designation now makes them eligible for a variety of scholarships, including single-payment National Merit Scholarships and corporate- and college-sponsored National Merit scholarships.

Hannah and Cassandara plan to attend the University of Washington. Hannah wants to pursue a career in psychology or similar service-oriented field, while Cassandra intends to study engineering.

Nicholas has been accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with an intent to study urban planning or data or computer science. Johnnie will attend Oklahoma State University to study aerospace administration and operations while pursuing his pilot's license.