Hard work, determination, skill and intelligence- these are all skills needed to succeed both in the academic world and professional world. Jessica Aisenberg possesses all of these skills and more, earning the title of National Merit Semifinalist and being the only girl at Edmond Memorial High School to do so. Besides this accomplishment, Aisenberg also leads several clubs, has won Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) awards and scored a perfect score on the PSAT, but that is just the beginning of her plans.
Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Competition is a yearly academic competition for high school students across the United States. To enter this competition, one must take either the PSAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and be enrolled in high school. National Merit Semifinalists are less than 1% of all graduating seniors in the United States, with around 16,000 students out of 1.3 million entering the competition. With these odds, becoming a National Merit Semifinalist is extremely difficult and not something one sees every day. However, like Aisenberg did, if one works hard and puts in everything they have, anything is possible.
“Honestly, [winning this award], it’s just been really amazing,” Aisenberg said. “Winning this award has really just confirmed to me that hard work pays off because I put in a lot of effort to get here. As for being the only girl to receive this award at Memorial this year, I am just happy to represent my gender.”
Aisenberg has shown that anything is possible, no matter who you are. With determination to succeed, the sky is the limit.
“I hope that maybe girls younger than me can see my name up there with all the guys and think, ‘Hey, I can do that too,’” Aisenberg said. “So really, everything has been great. Girl power!”
Besides being a high-achieving individual in academics, Aisenberg has many other school responsibilities as well. EMHS French Club, DECA and more are all part of her life separate from academics.
“Jessica is involved in DECA [and] French club at Memorial. Her family has a non-profit that she helps to manage, and she is president of a city-wide French Club called Jeunesse,” Miranda Upchurch, Aisenberg’s friend, said. “She also likes to play video games in her free time and also work on art projects.”
Jeunesse is a city-wide French club that aims to encourage students from the Oklahoma City Metro to participate more in French activities. With Aisenberg being president of Jeunesse and one of the secretaries for the EMHS French Club, she has no shortage of extracurricular involvement.
“When I first had Jessica in French II, she was my outstanding student that year because she was so dependable, reliable and always turned in her work,” Peggy Whittington, the French teacher at EMHS, said. “She was very accurate and very engaged in her learning, and she has continued to be so all the following years.”
Not only is Aisenberg taking part in National Merit, two different French clubs and a non-profit but is also a member of EMHS DECA. By participating in DECA, she is improving her entrepreneurial skills and setting herself up for success in the future.
“I was really happy when I won first place at DECA state in my event, Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making,” Aisenberg said. “This is basically a competition where you and your teammate (in my case, Jacey Cobb) are given a business scenario that usually has some sort of legal and/or ethical dilemma, and you have ten minutes to come up with a solution and then give a presentation to a judge.”
Although Aisenberg has already accomplished so much, she does not plan to stop here. Attending college, ideally Notre Dame, and pursuing a career in STEM is next. With women being statistically less involved in the fields of STEM, seeing a girl pursue a STEM career is refreshing to see. Aisenberg will use all the skills and knowledge she has acquired over the years to do the best she can in college.
“As of right now, my plan is to get into a good school and study engineering, though I’m not quite sure which discipline yet,” Aisenberg said. “I’m hoping to figure most of it out during college. Life is crazy and doesn’t always go to plan, so I plan on taking it as laid back as possible. Though of course, I am going to put my best into everything I do whatever that may be!”
Through hard work and determination, one can achieve anything. Aisenberg has given it her all and plans to continue to do this throughout college. An inspiration to those around her, she has been a shining example of what it means to reach one’s full potential.
Contact Emma Eischeid at [email protected]
