ARLINGTON Arlington High School senior Sarah Rayner was named National Merit Commended Student by the National Merit Scholarship Program. To earn the title a student must be among the top 5 percent of all students in the United States who took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Out of a pool of 1.4 million such students, Rayner was among the top 50,000 students. Of those 50,000 students, she was one of 34,000 students to receive Letters of Commendation.
Rayner admitted she was surprised that she made the top 5 percent, even though shes taken several advanced classes.
I didnt study that much, she said.
She credited her math and English teachers with helping her review the material.
Writing can be hard for me, Rayner said. Grammar gives me trouble, but reading and math are pretty easy. Its easier when you have formulas that you can set up and solve for.
Rayner especially enjoys French and is considering a career as a linguist because she likes learning the grammar of other languages.
With French, Ive learned the grammar as Ive learned the words, Rayner said. With English, Ive had to learn the grammar after Ive already learned how to speak the language.
Rayner is also interested in astronomy and thinks it might be fun to teach about stars and planets.
In the meantime, shes planning on attending the University of Washington after she graduates from AHS.