Locust Valley High School seniors Kelsey Neves and Vicente Godoy Moncada have earned 2024 National Merit Scholarship Commended Student and National Hispanic Recognition Scholar status, respectively.
Neves is one of 34,000 commended students out of the approximately 1.5 million entrants who received letters of recognition for their outstanding academic promise. Commended Students do not continue into the competition but are still eligible for special scholarships in March 2024.
“It was cool to be appreciated for my hard work and to have that recognition felt really good,” Neves said.
The commended student is planning to major in English or creative writing in college and was inspired by her past two English teachers Coleen Comerford and Anthony Vitale. She is currently the president of the school’s fashion club, the editor for the art and literature magazine and the mental health awareness club’s newsletter and a member of the Gender-Sexualities Alliance club.
Godoy Moncada is one of 10,000 students nationwide selected by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which requires students who are planning to enroll full-time in an accredited four-year university to attain a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average. Vicente and his family moved to the district in 2019, after spending time in Chile, Germany, Austria and St. Kitts and Nevis.
“No place feels the same, even if they are neighboring each other,” Godoy Moncada said. “It makes you appreciative of the world and different cultures.”
Outside of being a Hispanic Scholar, Godoy Moncada is playing volleyball for the first time, is involved in the International Baccalaureate leadership at the school and Odyssey of the Mind. He plans on majoring in architecture in college.