National Merit Scholar: Ronnie Walker

By Makayla Sordo

Most people may sit and wonder what the key to success is—ambition? Or perhaps luck? For Ronnie Walker, our school's very own National Merit Scholar, it’s a cherry Pop-Tart in the morning. 

In their junior year, students have the opportunity to take the October PSAT. Their section scores in math, reading and writing are summed and doubled to produce an index score used for cutoffs. Fifty thousand students nationwide are selected based on cutoffs and 16,000 are those who are above the cut off. Students below are commended while those above are semi-finalists. Becoming a semi-finalist is a long process including an application, teacher recommendations and confirmation test scores. While it is time consuming, it’s an amazing opportunity for students all over the nation. National Merit Scholars are granted a full ride scholarship to their school of choice and ultimate bragging rights. 

Winning National Merit Scholar is a sizable feat in the eyes of students everywhere; only 15,000 undergraduates will be selected as finalists each year. 

Ronnie expresses his feelings towards such an honorary title saying, “It’s cool,” with a grin.

While he keeps a simple stance on the subject, his plans for the future are anything but that, and this is only a stepping stone. 

“In terms of profession, [I] want to be an engineer and design some crazy stuff! You know, explore automotive-,” and between breaths, “just generally, make a difference.”

Ronnie has high expectations for himself and pushes himself to meet his goals everyday, somehow finding time between his part time job, college courses and hobbies to study and apply himself. He displays a humble attitude when discussing the entire situation, which is honorable considering the amount of hard work required for the position he's acquired. His days are usually busy juggling all his responsibilities. He explains that sometimes it can become “hard to breathe.” Yet, he still manages to impress those around him. 

Owasso High School is proud to call Ronnie Walker part of the student body, and we are excited to see where his future takes him.