Brentwood Student is a Finalist for National Merit Scholarship

Ilona Kiss has entered into some exclusive company.

The senior is one of 15,000 students in the United States to become a National Merit finalist and she is one of only 33 students in Brentwood’s history to receive such an honor.

“Having a National Merit finalist at Brentwood High School exemplifies the hard work and caliber of student that we have here,” said Ivy Hutchison, college and career advisor at Brentwood High School.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a national scholarship competition for American high school students. The journey begins when a student takes the PSAT exam. Of the 1.5 million students who initially take the exam, a small fraction receive yearly scholarships for the duration of their college career, underwritten by colleges and corporations.

Kiss didn’t give the scholarship much thought until she almost missed out on it.

“I was sick the day my classmates took the PSAT,” Kiss said. “As there wasn't really a make-up date available, I thought that I had missed out on this opportunity. Thankfully, when we contacted the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, they informed us that I was eligible for the scholarship; but only if I took the SAT.”

This meant that Ilona’s second chance came in the form of the real SAT, a test designed to be considerably harder than the PSAT. For that, Kiss got a little help from Santa Claus.

“For my Christmas present, my parents enrolled me in the SAT prep course at the Princeton Review,” Kiss said. “(It) helped by acquainting me to the general material the test would cover, as well as its format, but the main help it gave was in calming my nerves. I was still nervous on the day of the test but at least I felt well enough to do my best.”

All the prep appears to have paid off. Since taking the test, Ilona has moved up through the stages: first being commended, then advancing to semifinalist, and recently discovering that she’s a finalist. All that remains is finding out whether she’s won.

“Once I found out that I was a semifinalist and could apply to be a finalist, I felt ecstatic,” Kiss said. “Even if I don't win a scholarship, I'll be satisfied in knowing that I made it this far as a student and as an individual.”

And that is very far. Ilona started off a long way from Brentwood.

“Ilona has worked very hard since she moved to Brentwood from Hungary early in her elementary years,” Hutchison said. “Educational and intellectual success remains a strong goal for her and we are so proud of her hard work and accomplishment.”

“When you're an immigrant, whose whole life has been devoted to learning, and you begin to realize that you might not be able to achieve your dreams simply due to a lack of money, a program like the National Merit Scholarship suddenly becomes a big deal,” Kiss said.

For a high-achieving student like Ilona, the pressures are manifold.

“The biggest challenge I've faced in general has been juggling a rigorous course load with a huge amount of extracurriculars, college applications, standardized testing, and family obligations. It's really easy to feel like I'm being pulled apart in twenty different directions. However, I'm lucky in that I have people who stand by me and who genuinely care for my well-being; they've been invaluable in supporting me.”

The hardest part, though, involved a number two pencil.

“Taking the test itself was the hardest part. After all, a standardized test is not supposed to be easy,” she said.