Lamar students named National Merit semifinalists
Sep. 13—Lamar School seniors Christian Roman and Ian Turner were taken by surprise during homecoming activities on Wednesday when they were recognized before the student body as 2024 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
"It was a really good surprise," said Roman, who had no idea his name would be on the list of 16,000 semifinalists released by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday.
A student at Lamar since kindergarten, Roman is a member of the math club and plays guitar and kick boxing. He is the son of Victor Roman and the late Stefanie Roman.
He is undecided on college, but is seriously considering Auburn University and Mississippi State University.
"I want to major in actuarial science and finance," he said. "I am a big math guy."
Roman said he scored a 1440 on the PSAT and prepared for the test using a lot of online resources. He also gave credit to his Lamar teachers for all of their help over the years, especially his statistics teacher, Burt Cade, and his calculus teacher, Phyllis Skipper.
Turner, who scored a 1420 on the PSAT, said he, too, was surprised by being named a semifinalist.
"I knew it was going to be on the edge, kind of like a coin toss, but I am glad that it worked in my favor," he said.
"I want to thank all of my teachers and everyone that helped me, especially my parents," he said, also giving credit to his AP history teacher Brett Daniels.
The son of Christy and Scott Turner, he has been a student at Lamar since the eighth grade. He is a member of the soccer, track and cross country teams, as well as serves on the student council and quiz bowl team.
Turner said he is undecided on a major but knows it will be in the field of business. He is thinking about attending the University of Alabama.
"Getting the scholarship is going to mean a lot moneywise as far as college," he said. "I have been thinking of going to 'Bama ... so this is going to take a big financial burden off my parents, and it is going to open a lot of doors that would normally be closed."
Roman and Turner now join the ranks of other Lamar graduates who have been named National Merit semifinalists or finalists and whose photos line the wall across from the high school office. Since 1972, Lamar School has had 35 students named National Merit finalists, eight now as semifinalists and another five commended for their high scores on the PSAT.
"It is really a huge honor," Roman said. "It will be cool coming back and seeing that picture on the wall."
The two Lamar seniors were among more than 1.3 million students in 21,000 high schools nationwide who entered the 2024 program by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in their junior year. Semifinalist status, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, is awarded to the students from each state who scored the highest on the exam.
As semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, Roman and Turner now qualify to continue in the competition for finalists with a chance at receiving one of more than 7,100 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $28 million to be offered next spring.
Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.
