Three Dripping Springs High School seniors, Ryan Gahagan, Mia Haraguchi and Christopher Lee, have been selected as National Merit semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, and were the highest scoring students on the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. To become a finalist, a student must have an outstanding high school academic record, be recommended by the school principal, and submit SAT scores that confirm his/her earlier qualifying test performance. Finalists will be announced in February 2018.
RYAN GAHAGAN
The son of Lisa and Alan Gahagan, Ryan has been a Section Leader in the Tiger Band for the past two years, twice was a member of the TMEA Region 18 Symphonic Band, and competed in the 2017 UIL State Band Solo and Ensemble Contest. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society. Ryan competes in Academic UIL Competition in Number Sense and Computer Science; he placed third and fifth in those events, respectively, at last year’s 5A District 26 meet. He also is a member of the Dripping Springs FIRST Robotics Team. In college, Ryan plans to major in Computer Science and possibly Mathematics.
MIA HARAGUCHI
Throughout her high school career, Mia has been a member of the track and cross country teams. She was a regional track qualifier in 2015 and has advanced to the State Cross Country Championships as a member of the Lady Tigers twice. Currently, Mia is president of the National Honor Society, is a member of the Spanish Honor Society, and has held multiple leadership roles in Student Council. She helped found and serves as co-president of the Young Democrats Club, and is involved in several other student clubs. Academically, Mia has been recognized for Outstanding Performance in multiple subjects and ranks among the top five percent of the senior class. The daughter of Ann and Dean Haraguchi, she is interested in a science-related college major, such as Biology, Biophysics, or Biochemistry.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
The son of Raymond and Jenny Lee, Christopher has been a Section Leader for the Tiger Band and has been a member of the Varsity Color Guard. He was recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction, is a member of the National Honor Society, and is ranked among the top 5 percent of his class. In addition, Christopher is a Boy Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow Honor Scouts. This summer, he was chosen to attend the Young Scholars Program for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington. Christopher plans to study Mathematics, Computer Science, and Business in college.
