EAHS grad a National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Sean Ahler will attend the University of Texas at Dallas in the fall

By Chris Bennett

Correspondent

Elkhorn Area High School’s Sean Ahler is in rarified academic air.

The now graduated senior recently learned he earned National Merit Scholarship Finalist honors and said he wasn’t completely surprised by it.

“They give you a process you go through and you know what’s going to happen next,” Ahler said. “It’s nice to be able to say to people that I earned this.”

Ahler is the son of David and Lori Ahler of Elkhorn. He graduated second in the Elkhorn Area High School Class of 2020 with a 4.0 grade point average.

His road to earning the honor started during his junior year of high school. More than 1.5 million juniors in approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2018 Preliminary SAT and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which is the initial screen of participants.

Last fall, roughly 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state-representational basis.

To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists first had to advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each semifinalist submitted a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions.

NMSC, a non-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 400

independent corporate and college sponsors.

Ahler is one of 79 recently graduated seniors in Wisconsin who earned NMSF honors. He is going to attend the University of Texas at Dallas and major in Biochemistry as part of a pre-med course of study.

“As I was looking for a college, I wanted a college that would offer scholarships for National Merit and a high GPA,” Ahler said. “UT-Dallas offered a very good scholarship for National Merit finalists.”

Ahler’s long-term goal is to be an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine.

During his time at EAHS Ahler participated in track, soccer and basketball, and said his favorite high school memory is the Elks’ soccer team winning a sectional title last fall and advancing to the WIAA Division 2 state tournament. The Elks lost 2-1 to Brookfield Central Nov. 8 at Milwaukee’s Uihlein Park.

Ahler participated in HOSA, an extracurricular organization for students who aspire to a career in health care. He also joined the Spanish Club and the National Honor Society.

Anatomy and Physiology counts as Ahler’s favorite class during his time at Elkhorn Area High School, but he said Chemistry is the class in which he had the most fun.

Like all area seniors, Ahler’s final year in high school ended early due to COVID-19. He and his fellow Elks engaged in distance learning from roughly mid-March through the end of the school calendar.

Ahler said he adapted well to distance learning, and wafted philosophical about his senior year coming to an abrupt halt.

“Nobody wanted it to happen, and everyone feels bad that it happened this way,” Ahler said. “You can’t really so anything about it. You just move on, and do the best you can.”