Bryant senior wins National Merit Scholarship
On June 1, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation formally announced its first group of college-sponsored scholarship recipients, marking its third group of winners overall. Among the high school students listed was senior Aaron Dean Garcia from Bryant High School. Garcia will receive a scholarship sponsored by the University of Arkansas located in Fayetteville. He will be among the approximately 7,500 winners announced by the end of this year’s NMSC competition with financial aid totaling nearly $28 million. Another group of collegesponsored National Merit Scholars will be announced on July 11.
Screening for the NMSC competition began when the students, as juniors, took the Preliminary Sat/national Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) exam in 2020. The highest scorers in each state, which totaled over 16,000 students, were named as National Merit Semifinalists last fall. From there, the students were asked to submit a more detailed scholarship application, including an essay entry and information about extracurricular involvement, awards, and leadership positions. They must have also demonstrated excellent academic standing with an endorsement from a high school official as well as earn qualifying SAT or ACT scores.
Of the initial semifinalists, over 15,000 students advanced as finalists. The NMSC selected Garcia among a narrowed group of winners that amounted to about half of the finalists.
Bryant Public Schools Director of Communications Devin Sherrill said that Bryant Public Schools is extremely proud of Garcia. The National Merit Scholarship is known as a prestigious achievement for high school students.
“It shows the hard work that Aaron has put into his academic career,” Sherrill commented. “We are thrilled to have that reflected on our school district.”
In May, Garcia also received the honor of co-valedictorian of the class of 2022. Earlier that month, he attended the Governor’s Scholastic Honors
Day. His other achievements include a third national placement in social studies and a first state placement in the same category for Beta Club. He earned MVP at the 2019 and 2021 Quiz Bowl State Tournaments. The New York Times Student Edition twice featured his article responses.
“Aaron has a bright future ahead,” according to a statement from Bryant High School principal Todd Edwards. “We look forward to the great things he will accomplish.”
Garcia is the son of Radeanna and Andy Garcia. He has attended the school district since the first grade, and looks to join the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. He will major in finance and hopes to become a financial advisor in the future.