A high school student from Ocala has been awarded a National Merit Scholarship that she will use to attend a college or university this fall.
On Wednesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced this year’s National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners, who were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Among this year’s National Merit Scholarship winners is Ocala resident Angelina Kovalchuk. A senior at Vanguard High School, Kovalchuk has set her sights on a career in the field of neuroscience.
On her LinkedIn page, Kovalchuk lists numerous accomplishments, including being an editor on her high school’s quarterly newspaper, serving as the chapter president for the Science National Honor Society, supervising her high school’s Chemistry Club, peer-mentoring incoming IB students, and volunteering at AdventHealth.
In addition, Kovalchuk highlighted a 9-day mission trip to Ukraine while serving as a student ambassador for Redwoods Global Missions. During that trip, she provided humanitarian and spiritual aid to Ukrainian refugees and nursing home residents.
Kovalchuk is also an accomplished pianist, earning a superior ranking in solo piano for 10-plus years. She has competed in various state and international competitions, and she has organized monthly performances at local nursing homes.
According to NMSC, the National Merit $2,500 scholarship winners were determined to have “the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.” These scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised the following information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: academic record, including the difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; 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.
More than 16,000 high school students qualified as semifinalists for the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Four other Ocala students joined Kovalchuk as this year’s semifinalists, including Cody Lu (Forest High School), Gianna Bejuarano (homeschooled/does school online), Sanjay Karthik (Vanguard High School), and Rachel Milbrandt (Vanguard High School).
According to NMSC, over 15,000 of the semifinalists met the high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of this year’s competition. By the end of the 2025 program, NMSC anticipates that over 6,930 finalists will earn the “Merit Scholar” title and receive a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.
Later this year, on June 4 and July 14, NMSC will announce approximately 3,600 more college-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners.
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