Meet Alachua County Public Schools' 2024 National Merit Scholarship award winners
A handful of Alachua County Public Schools students have been awarded $2,500 each after winning the 2024 National Merit Scholarship.
In addition to being named National Merit Scholars, some recipients also were awarded the Benacquisto Scholarship, a merit-based award for high school graduates in Florida who have been recognized as a National Merit Scholar. They will receive a scholarship equal to the standard institutional cost of attendance for an in-state student minus the sum of Bright Futures and the National Merit award, if also awarded those.
Richard Feng
High school: Buchholz
Probable career field (according to National Merit Scholars): Electrical engineering
In addition to being named a National Merit Scholar, Feng was awarded a scholarship by the Education Foundation of Alachua County.
Feng, 17 will attend the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and likely major in electrical engineering, which will allow him to apply physical phenomenon and what he's learned through theory to a real-world situation. His father is a Caltech alum and Feng was born in Pasadena, so although he's nervous to leave Gainesville, he has friends and family in California.
Feng's favorite subject is physics because of how applicable it is to other subjects.
"There's only a few core first principles that you have to follow in order to be able to have an understanding of the field, and it's also, mostly, a pretty intuitive subject to learn as well," he said.
Feng lived in Ohio for around nine years before coming to Florida around five years ago. Some of his favorites hobbies include sports (watching and playing), listening to music and watching movies (a favorite of his is the Star Wars franchise). He also enjoys playing frisbee with friends.
Feng plans to eventually attend grad school and — although not yet set on one career — pursue a career that allows him to research and innovate. A possibility he's considering is mechanics or quantum computing.
"Hopefully, becoming a researcher will be possible," he said. "In general, just trying to discover new things is ultimately my goal and being able to use those new things to actually create broader impacts."
Delaney (Sarah) Rodkin
High school: Buchholz
Probable career field (according to National Merit Scholars): History
In addition to being named a National Merit Scholar, Rodkin was awarded the Benacquisto Scholarship, which will cover the standard institutional cost of tuition. She also has won awards for her work with the Girl Scouts of America.
Rodkin, 17, will attend the University of Florida to pursue majors in history, Spanish and sustainability studies. She actually graduated in 2023 after three years of high school and participated in a study abroad in Argentina. Rodkin said she still considers herself as a 2024 graduate since she will begin UF this fall.
"Growing up in Gainesville, it's right there and there's a lot of really good opportunities at UF for research and for learning," Rodkin said. "I was interested in staying close by, but also going to a strong university with really good academic programs."
While history is her favorite subject, Rodkin developed a passion for the environment because her family always did a lot of outdoor activities. Many of her family vacations included camping, hiking and paddling, among other things.
"My history classes were always some [of] my favorites in middle and high school, and I'm also really passionate about the environment," she said. "With Girl Scouts, I founded a trailblazer troop — and I'm a Gold Award recipient — and did my project in outdoor sustainability and outdoor education... I'm really passionate about preserving the environment and making sure that it's still going to be here to continue [to] enjoy, and so, I'm looking to somehow combine those interests. And then the Spanish is just because I've spent many years working on my language and I want to continue that and can retain some fluency."
Rodkin plans to attend graduate school and eventually earn a doctorate degree. While she isn't completely set on a certain career, she said she has considered working in research or environmental nonprofit advocacy.
Laurie Wang
High school: Buchholz
Probable career field (according to National Merit Scholars): Biotechnology
Wang, 18, will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, although still considering, may major in something related to biology or economics. In addition to her love of science, Wang enjoys reading, art and music through drawing, painting and playing the cello.
"I've lived in Florida for a couple of years by now, but I wasn't born in Florida," Wang said. "I like the academic opportunities that MIT gives. I think it's really good for the specific things I like, and I feel like I'll just be able to accomplish, kind of, what I want to the biggest degree."
Born in Utah, Wang lived in Texas for many years before her family moved to Florida.
Wang finds biology, her favorite subject, fascinating because it can be closely connected to daily life, she said.
"I'm taking economics this year, and I really like it — I didn't expect to like it so much," she said. "I feel like it just kind of adds a really interesting perspective, because I'm thinking about maybe going into medicine... At least in your first four years, when you're getting your bachelor degree, you kind of have a little bit more room to explore... I feel like it can make [a] really interesting background for a doctor."
Although still undecided on her career, Wang said becoming a doctor (with an interest in cardiothoracic or orthopedic surgery) or starting a biotechnology company are both possibilities. She is considering attending medical school.
Emmanuel Zheng
High school: Buchholz
Probable career field (according to National Merit Scholars): Science/research
Zheng, 17, will attend Stanford University and, although not yet decided, wants to pursue a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related major — potentially earth science.
"I was just drawn by the earth science program there, actually," he said. "There was this earth science program that I attended in high school and a lot of the alumni go to Stanford. So, I kind of had a stronger connection there and that's part of the reason that drew me there."
Science is Zheng's favorite subject and he gravitates toward earth sciences specifically.
"I think it's a combination of things, but one thing that I think stands out to me is that with earth science there's some — what you call, like, separate spheres, for example, the atmosphere and then the geosphere, different things like that, and a big part of it is seeing how all those interact. So I think it's pretty dynamic and you get to kind of explore a lot of different topics."
Zheng was born in Maryland but has lived in Gainesville since around first grade. Around this time, his father also taught Zheng origami — a hobby he's continued since then. His favorite thing to make is origami flowers because of how symmetrical they are. Zheng also plays the piano, reads and spends time with his two younger brothers.
A career in academia (such as being a professor) interests Zheng because of the opportunity to do research and be involved in education. However, another option he's considering is a job in industry or engineering; but he said any career that combines his interests would be good for him.
Melissa Li
High school: Buchholz
Li, 17, was awarded a National Merit 3M Scholarship which provides an annual stipend of $2,500 for up to four years, sponsored by 3M Company. Her mother works for 3M as a data analyst, which allowed her to apply for the scholarship awarded by the company.
In addition to being named a National Merit Scholar, Li (along with a group of Buchholz students) was recently named a finalist group for a portion of the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge), which gave the team a monetary team prize.
Li will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, while still considering her major, is interested in studying electrical engineering or computer science.
"I've kind of always wanted to do something more hands-on but, unfortunately, I haven't had that experience in high school," she said. "I want to be able to try to experience that in college. I was kind of thinking about doing something math related already because I have an interest in that field and it just seems like computer science and electrical engineering are a natural application of that."
A Gainesville native, Li said she's nervous but excited for a change. She said the main thing she's worried about is the different weather.
"I've always wanted to go out of state just because I don't — I kind of don't want to be cooped up around the same town all my life," Li said. "Before I made the decision I heavily considered all the academic and social, and, as well as financial considerations and so I think it's worth it, going out of state, for me."
Li's favorite subject is math, she said, because although there's a set number of rules, you can play around with them and unlock many different possibilities. In addition to academics, she was on a swim team, enjoys reading, running and playing pickleball. She called herself a pretty adventurous person who enjoys doing many different things.
While not completely set on what she wants to pursue after college, Li said a career related to finance or electrical engineering interests her.
Isaac Savin
High school: Eastside
Probable career field (according to National Merit Scholars): Physics
In addition to being named a National Merit Scholar, Savin was awarded the Benacquisto Scholarship, which will cover the standard institutional cost of tuition.
Savin, 18, will attend the University of Florida to pursue majors in music performance and physics. He has many years of experience with a variety of instruments including the cello, euphonium and jazz trumpet, among others.
"I've been playing music ever since a young age and it's been a really big part of my life," Savin said. "It's been a hobby, and then it developed into a passion for me, especially in high school... I've met a lot of the music faculty at UF, I've worked with them and they're fantastic teachers, so I want to continue that... With physics, I've always been really intrigued by math and.... those kinds of STEM fields, and physics is really just like applied math. So, I enjoy doing research, I enjoy experiments, so physics is also really interesting to me... I'm excited to continue studying those in college."
Although Savin isn't completely sure what he wants to do as a career yet, he said he plans to explore opportunities at UF to help him decide.
"I am very passionate about a lot of different things and a lot of, like, a lot of things which are different from each other," Savin said. "I kind of want to use UF to figure out what I want to do, because there's a lot of good opportunities for everything. It's very well rounded as a school."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County national merit scholarship winners 2024
