Badin High School senior Case Trokhan pronounced herself “very excited” … and why not?

Trokhan has been named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist – one of less than one percent of American high school seniors to earn that prestigious designation.

“I look at it as the culmination of a lot of hard work,” said Trokhan, the daughter of Darren and Cynamon Trokhan of Hamilton and a graduate of St. Joseph’s Consolidated School in Hamilton. “I have loved being involved in everything at Badin. I love taking courses that challenge me. And of course, it’s nice being recognized for your academic accomplishments.”

Trokhan is one of among some 1.6 million juniors who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in the fall of 2020 in order to be eligible for the 2022 National Merit Scholarship program.

“That’s tremendous for Case,” Badin High Principal Brian Pendergest said. “She has been motivated to do well in school ever since she walked in the door, while at the same time being very involved in the opportunities that high school presents. She’s had a great career.”

There are approximately 16,000 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists throughout the country. Some 90 percent of those will be named finalists in the spring, and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation will award some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million.

Trokhan is an outstanding swimmer who has been to the Division II state meet in the 100 backstroke as a sophomore and again as a junior. She is the president of the Youth Philanthropy Commission, which is comprised of students from several area high schools; helps at HOPE-full Pastures, an animal-assisted youth therapy organization in Hamilton; is a member of Badin Student Council; and also in the Scholar Leader Academy and Ambassador program at BHS.

“I don’t think I would have had the experience I’ve had at Badin anywhere else,” Trokhan said. “It’s been really good. Everybody finds their place at Badin. I’m really glad I chose Badin. I love it here.”

Trokhan felt she did well on the PSAT as a junior, but admitted that waiting nearly a year to find out her National Merit status was “slightly frustrating. I was hoping it would be something I qualified for – at least as a Commended Student. When Mr. Pendergest called me into his office to tell me the news, it was very exciting.”

Trokhan is narrowing her list of college possibilities, and plans to major in Biology or something in the biomedical sciences on a pre-med track.

Badin has had six NMS “Commended” students – top five percent in the country — in the last two years and hopes to add to that total when the announcement is made next month.

The National Merit Scholarship program was established in 1955 with the goal