By Chelsey Pletts
HAMILTON — It's a good thing that Meredith O'Hare got over her fear of standardized tests early on.
The Pingree School senior was named one of the winners of the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program on May 6 after taking the PSAT/NMSQT qualifying test. The scholarship totals $2,500.
"I went into the test thinking that it didn't count for anything," O'Hare said. "Turns out it wasn't the case."
Approximately 1.5 million students take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test each year, and about 50,000 qualify for recognition. The 8,200 winners receive scholarships, totaling $35 million.
Recognizing her academic talents as a child, O'Hare's mother enrolled her in the Johns Hopkins Talent Search, where she said any fear of tests was immediately squashed; hence, her nonchalant approach.
But, said O'Hare's adviser, Kristin Brown, it is the teen's boundless intellectual curiosity that has not only prepared her well for the test but the road ahead of her.
"She's extraordinary," Brown said. "She is supremely intelligent, and she is not only a gifted leader but funny, as well — very unique."
To become a winner, the student must have an outstanding record throughout high school; be recommended by the head of the school; and earn scores that exemplify the student's academic prowess.
"It's really exciting," O'Hare said, "but it's a little strange to be approved by an outside source."
Anthony Blackman, interim head of school at Pingree, remembered the time O'Hare lifted school spirits with a little yoga.
"I will never forget one morning when she felt the students were really feeling the pressure — she simply walked up to the microphone in morning meeting and led the entire school in a yoga meditation," Blackman said. "It was wonderful."
Already accepted to Notre Dame, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, O'Hare said May is shaping up to be a "hectic month."
"The deciding factor would be somewhere that can help me pursue my interests," she said.
Though O'Hare is torn between history and international relations, and math and physics, she decided that her ultimate job would include archaeology and particle accelerators.
