This week, we have a very special Student Shoutout! eHS Senior, Sergio Markin, has been named a 2021 National Merit Semifinalist. Sergio is a member of two award-winning eHS teams, Quiz Bowl and the eHS Robotics Club. In addition to competing academically, Sergio is also very committed to his martial arts training through Unity Martial Arts. His personal vision statement says, “My vision is to enjoy life, and to live in a way that brings joy to as many other people as possible along the way.” When he is not studying, training, or competing, Sergio volunteers his time working with children.
Sergio is the son of Mariella Hernandez and Brandon Markin of North Little Rock, AR. After high school, he would love to attend either Massachusetts Institute of Technology or California Institute of Technology to study physics.
Sergio is now a part of a nationwide competition for one of the 7,600 National Merit scholarships worth more than $30 million offered next spring. Roughly 15,000 semi-finalist will advance to the finalist round. The results of the competition will be announced in February.
More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
Sergio, the entire Mets Nation is incredibly proud of your accomplishment and wish you the very best of luck in this year’s competition!