Local student a National Merit semi-finalist

A Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School senior has recently qualified to be a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Taylor Bergner said that she found out about the news from WBHS Principal Stuart Russ on the first day of school.

“It was actually our first full day of school and I was walking to lunch,” said Bergner. “I passed by Mr. Russ and he said, ‘Taylor, when you have a moment, I’d like to talk to you in my office.’ I had kind of been waiting, because I knew that principals were notified before we were, so I asked him if it was good news about National Merit, to which he said yeah.”

The National Merit Program is an academic competition for scholarships beyond high school. Over 16,000 semifinalists from all around the United States were also announced with Bergner.

“I got involved during the summer between sophomore and junior year,” said Bergner. “I was applying for a scholarship through my parents’ work, and one of the requirements for that was to take the PSAT (Preliminary SAT test) before the SAT, because the PSAT is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test. When you take that test, you get a PSAT score and a NMSQT score.”

Bergner said that she took the NMSQT during her junior year and got results back quickly. Still, she had to wait until the beginning of September to hear if she qualified for National Merit.

“The benchmark changes every year,” said Bergner. “You are ranked based on your state.”

Bergner attributed her selection to National Merit to her hard work and interest in all areas of study in school.

“I have always done really well in school — I love school a lot,” said Bergner. “I did study a lot for the test when I heard about it. I would put in a couple of weeks over the summer and then in the weeks leading up to it, I probably put it two or three hours some days.”

With this being Russ’ first year at the high school, he has not had a lot of time to build a personal relationship with Bergner. Even though this is the case, Russ said that he is proud of Bergner and acknowledged her hard work.

“Getting to know her more, I am very impressed by her drive and the way that she conducts herself,” said Russ.

Russ said Bergner is well-deserving of this recognition and honor.

“It is always great whenever you can celebrate with our students who put in the hard work and get to see it pay off,” said Russ. “I am really happy for her.”

He also said a student like Bergner, who puts in the hard work and is involved in different activities, sets a good example for other students in the school.

“I think it kind of highlights the possibility that our students can achieve their goals,” said Russ.

Bergner said she is still undecided on where she wants to go to college, but she knows that she is going to be studying engineering.

“I know more or less what schools I am applying to, but I am not making any final decisions until I get scholarship information back,” said Bergner. “I am applying to a couple on the East Coast, one or two in Wisconsin and then a few down south. I want to go into either environmental engineering or aerospace engineering.”

Bergner pointed to two avenues that the National Merit Program can help her when applying for colleges.

“You can put it on your college application and it looks really impressive,” said Bergner. “It also qualifies you for a lot of scholarships. You can get scholarships through private corporations. Some colleges also have specific National Merit scholarships.”

College has been on Bergner’s mind for a while, as she said that she started researching ACT information when she was in middle school. Bergner said that is due to her enjoyment of school and her desire to keep learning.

“I have just always loved it,” said Bergner. “I would enjoy summer break when I was young for the first month or so, but then I would get so bored. I am at my happiest when I am busy every single hour of the day.”

Bergner has spent her whole academic career in the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District, which is something that she cherishes, due to the relationships that have formed and helped her get to this spot.

“A lot of people might say that this is a smaller school district,” said Bergner. “We don’t have some of the resources of the bigger schools in the area, but all of my teachers have known me personally, really well — so I have had a lot of teachers step in along the way when they see my hard work and ambitions, and then they personally do whatever they can to help me. I have had a lot of teachers who have opened doors for me that maybe I wouldn’t have been able to open in a bigger school district.”

Through her preparations for National Merit, Bergner said that she learned that she can accomplish whatever her mind is set to, through hard work.

“In the process of studying for tests and doing well on them, if you really put in the work before hand, when the day comes, you will be prepared and it won’t be half as stressful as the preparing for it actually was,” said Bergner. “I usually have good outcomes when I give my all to something beforehand.”

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com