Please join us in recognizing ESHS Daniel Tritasavit on being named a 2024 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist! El Segundo High School is proud to announce that Engineering Pathway senior, Daniel Tritasavit, has been named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist for 2024.
Daniel is one of 16,000 students selected out of 1.3 million juniors from across 21,000 high schools nationwide, who will compete for a National Merit Scholarship.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a not-for-profit organization that awards scholarships to high school seniors annually, with semi finalists chosen based on preliminary SAT scores.
“The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state,” National Merit Scholarship officials said. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a finalist, Daniel will submit a detailed scholarship application that includes a personal essay, letter of recommendation, and grades and SAT scores that align with his PSAT score. By advancing to the National Merit Scholarship finals, Daniel is eligible to become one of the 7,140 national finalists who will be chosen to earn a share of nearly $28 million in scholarships set to be distributed in 2024.
Daniel is not only an ESHS Engineering Pathway student but is also a member of the ESHS Orchestra program. Daniel has played the cello since the 6th grade and is most inspired when he is composing arrangements with the support of Orchestra teacher, Ms. Darbeau.
Mr. Horvath, ESHS Engineering Pathway teacher has also had a positive influence on Daniel as he has supported him throughout the years while taking Advanced Physics and Engineering courses at ESHS.
In his free time, Daniel enjoys teaching piano and developing video games, a passion that enables him to combine his prowess of computer science and the art of storytelling, musical composition, and animation.
It is clear that Daniel enjoys solving puzzles and when preparing for the PSAT, Daniel arranged all the puzzle pieces together from his learning in STEM focused classes at ESHS and the classes he has taken at various community colleges.
Daniel’s long-term goals are guided by his interest in the field of Computer Science and the notion that Computer Science is logic based, it is neither artificial nor subjective. In the future, Daniel aspires to end up in a field that has something to do with math, logic, and innovation.
ESHS wishes Daniel the best of luck in his quest for the title of National Merit Scholar! We are so proud!