Twins among recipients of National Merit awards

Twins Alan and Ivan Sheu have done a lot together during their time in Lawrence public schools.

Now, they can add a top honor to their list of shared endeavors.

The Sheus were two of four Lawrence students who have been named National Merit scholars, a distinction that brings a guaranteed $2,500 in scholarship money and the promise of much bigger offers from universities.

“Basically, this is a way for colleges to get to know who you are,” Ivan Sheu said.

Nationwide, 2,500 students were named National Merit scholars based on standardized test scores, grades, leadership and involvement, an essay and recommendations from school officials.

Alan and Ivan Sheu and Audrey Southard were the Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive, designees. Ying Niu attends Lawrence High School, 1901 La.

Niu said she wasn’t expecting to be honored.

“I was really surprised. My parents were really proud, and I was really happy.”

Niu, who has been accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to study electrical engineering.

In addition to the four National Merit scholars named in Lawrence, two Free State High School seniors have received other awards from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.Kristin Baker will receive a $2,500 scholarship as part of the Achievement Scholarship program, which offers money to 800 black high school seniors each year. Specifically, she received the UPS Foundation Achievement Scholarship, which is given to the child of an employee of the United Parcel Service.Bryan Maygers will receive the Payless Shoesource Merit Scholarship, which is part of corporate-sponsored scholarships organized by the National Merit program. The scholarship is given to children of Payless employees.

The Free State students said the designation already had helped them secure large scholarship packages from the schools they’re planning to attend — Washington University (Alan Sheu), University of Chicago (Ivan Sheu) and Georgia Tech University (Southard).

“It makes you stand out,” Southard explained. “It’s the best of the best.”

The three said they’d participated and competed together in countless activities since their days at Hillcrest School and West Junior High School.

“The three of us have done the nerdy academic stuff,” Southard said, including scholar’s bowl, orchestra, model United Nations and math competitions.

Alan Sheu said the National Merit prize was a reward for years of hard work at school.

“It’s always been important to me,” he said. “I knew you had to perform well to get into a good college.”