High Life : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Merit Prizes Go to 16 Students

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recently named 16 more Orange County high school seniors as winners of its prestigious merit awards and $2,000 scholarships.

During their junior year, 1.1 million high school students nationwide were screened for the merit program when they took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The National Merit Scholarship Corp., which awards more than 6,000 scholarships worth $25 million to high school seniors annually, announced the second of three groups of winners earlier this month. The first group, which included 12 county students, was announced in April.

Awards are granted based on a student’s academic performance, test scores and extracurricular activities. The students must also provide autobiographies and recommendations from their high schools.

The most recent Orange County merit scholar winners:

Roy K. Aloke, Canyon High School, Anaheim; Jooyoung Lee, Brea-Olinda High School, Brea; Margaret R. Chou, Fountain Valley High School; Patrick A. Ede and Scott A. McKinley, both of Fullerton High School; Paul Lu, Edison High School, Huntington Beach; Steven W. Huang, University High School, Irvine; Samuel K. Sun, Troy High School, Fullerton; Jung I. Kim, Laguna Hills High School; Sonja F. Nazareth, El Modena High School, Orange; Monica J. Ryu, Foothill High School, Santa Ana; Alvina Y. Leung, Marina High School, Huntington Beach; and Vanita R. Aroda, Jae K. Kang, Rose Kim and Kathryn I. Strauss, all of Sunny Hills High School, Fullerton.

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” --Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)