HILLSBOROUGH: High school senior earns a National Merit Scholarship winner

Ziyao ‘Eric’ Wang is second in school to earn honor this year

   Hillsborough High School senior Ziyao “Eric” Wang has been selected as a National Merit scholar.
   He will attend Harvard University and his probable career field is economics and East Asian studies, he said. He has been active in the Model UN program and runs an academic and SAT tutoring company with friends.
   He is the son of Li Zhang and Yonggang Wang.
   He was awarded a $2,500 single-year scholarship supported by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s own funds.
   Eric was part of the second round of winners announced by the corporation. Two weeks ago, Hillsborough High senior Jerry Liu, bound for the University of Connecticut to major in engineering, was named a National Merit scholar. He’s been involved with the RoboRaiders robotics team. His parents are Li Fan and Haiqing Liu.
   Another round of announcements will be made July 11.
   In total, about 7,800 students nationwide will win scholarships worth nearly $35 million.
   The awards can be used for undergraduate study at any U.S. college or university.
   About 1.5 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the competition when they took the PSAT. In September, about 16,000 semifinalists were designated from all states. Those students had to submit a detailed application that included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions.