Imperial Beach Student Wins National Merit Scholarship

IMPERIAL BEACH, CA — Twenty-eight high school students in San Diego County, including a student from Imperial Beach, were named National Merit Scholars Wednesday, a prestigious designation for 2,500 students that comes with a $2,500 scholarship.

The students were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 national finalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who reviewed academic records, Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay written by the finalist, and a recommendation written by a high school official.

The San Diego area winners are:

Del Mar

• Eli W. Browne, The Bishop's School, La Jolla

Escondido

• Ashwin Bardhwaj, Mission Hills High School, San Marcos

Imperial Beach

• Malia Emi Lewton, Academy of Our Lady of Peace, San Diego

La Jolla

• Isaac G. Chu, La Jolla High School, La Jolla
• Aiden S. Kleinman, La Jolla High School, La Jolla
• Arianna E. Roberts, La Jolla High School, La Jolla

Rancho Santa Fe

• Jasper Jain, The Bishop's School, La Jolla

San Diego

• Mia L. Chen, Westview High School, San Diego
• Asher S. Christian, Point Loma High School, San Diego
• Alicia Q. Ji, Del Norte High School, San Diego
• Sree J. Kandhadai, Francis W. Parker School, San Diego
• Anshi Vishal Kanodia, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
• Kasie H. Leung, The Bishop's School, La Jolla
• Grace L. Li, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
• Jialin Li, La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla
• Justin Luo, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
• James P. O'Leary, St. Augustine High School, San Diego
• Petunia T. Rizo, Mount Everest Academy, San Diego
• Shreya Singh, Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego
• Christine A. Tsu, Torrey Pines High School, San Diego
• Grace M. Wang, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
• Daniel M. Xu, The Bishop's School, La Jolla
• Shirley T. Xu, The Bishop's School, La Jolla
• Wendy Xu, Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego
• Isabella Yi-Qi Yang, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego
• Kevin T. Zhao, Scripps Ranch High School, San Diego
• Andrew Y. Zhou, Francis W. Parker School, San Diego

San Marcos

• Malina G. Freeman, San Marcos High School, San Marcos

This is the second set of winners in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. In April, about 840 recipients of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards were named. On June 7 and July 10, roughly 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners will be announced.

In all, more than 7,140 award winners will receive scholarships worth nearly $28 million, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.