Ritchie Yang has worked to balance prioritizing success with making the most of his high school experience for the past four years.
Now his efforts have paid off in the form of being named a Presidential Scholar semifinalist. Yang was selected as one of 620 semifinalists from nearly 3.7 million graduating high school seniors.
“I wasn’t really expecting to get the semifinalist,” the 18-year-old Petal resident said. “I thought there were other very well-rounded, well-qualified students, but it is nice to have that honor, that distinction because it represents all the hard work that I’ve put in.”
Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
Yang, who attends Petal High School said his family has influenced his success and made sacrifices for him.
“They thought it was very prestigious for me to get the award and they were very happy that I’ve gotten this far,” Yang said.
“Whether I got the nomination of semifinalist or not, they were satisfied, but they’re really excited that I got the nomination. I would say they’re pretty proud.”
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Yang’s parents nurtured his success from an early age. His father taught him math and made sure that he put school first.
“Coming this far would not have been possible without the support from my teachers, encouragement from my friends and ultimately, sacrifices from my family,” Yang said.
Outside of academics, Yang enjoys playing tennis, spending time with his friends and reading. His fondest high school memories come from doing class projects with friends and going to football games.
“I really do enjoy just being in a group and collaborating with others,” Yang said. “Those are the things I’ll remember going into college.”
His biggest challenge has been balancing academics while trying to enjoy high school.
“I definitely put a lot of emphasis on learning and succeeding academically, but growing up it was kind of hard trying to balance trying to do the best while also just having fun. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of learned to balance that better,” Yang said.
As for his future, he plans to attend Stanford in the fall majoring in computer science and economics.
“Hopefully I’ll be a software engineer in the future,” Yang said.
During the pandemic, his interest in computer science was sparked by watching videos on coding and taking a computer science class.
“I really like the aspect of problem-solving, and like I said before, I’ve always been a numbers guy, so it just made sense to me that I would enjoy something like that.”
Matt Dillon, Petal School District superintendent, is particularly proud of Yang’s accomplishment.
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“This is a tremendous accomplishment that requires a lot of hard work and dedication,” Dillon said. “Ritchie has achieved many great milestones and is a shining example to others. The sky’s the limit for his future.”
If selected as a Presidential Scholar, Yang will be honored at the National Recognition Program in Washington, D.C. in June, where he will receive the U.S. Presidential Scholars Medallion to commemorate the achievement.
Contact reporter Laurel Thrailkill at [email protected] or on Twitter.
