Hood River Valley High School (HRVHS) senior Aden Cross was named a finalist in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
Hood River Valley High School (HRVHS) senior Aden Cross was named a finalist in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
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Hood River Valley High School (HRVHS) senior Aden Cross was named a finalist in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Cross will compete for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarship awards worth more than $30 million, which will be offered this spring.
Cross is among approximately 15,000 finalists advanced out of a nationwide pool of 16,000 semifinalists chosen in September and represented the highest-scoring entrants in each state on the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. To become a finalist, semifinalists had to submit a scholarship application, have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by a school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores confirming their qualifying test performance.
Cross is interested in pursuing his higher education at Oregon State University, University of California - Berkeley, University of British Columbia, or University of Washington. He plans to study computer science.
Cross said it is a constantly changing field so there are lots of opportunities to come up with something new.
“I already have programming experience thanks to my participation in robotics,” said Cross.
Cross said his career goal is to help people with computer science in some way. He looks forward to learning about opportunities when he attends college.
In school, Cross is the captain of the water polo team as well as team captain and lead programmer of the high school’s FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) team, A05 Annex. In addition, Cross volunteers as a Columbia Gorge Chief Science Officer, helping with programs such as Columbia Gorge Student Tutors and Friday Night STEM. He also coaches the middle school water polo team and the middle school robotics clubs in Hood River.
“Aden Cross is a natural leader and talented computer programmer,” said HRVHS engineering/robotics teacher John Trimble. “He is the captain of the FRC robotics team and a star water polo athlete. Aden exhibits a positive outlook and attitude, shows initiative as a leader, displays good citizenship by assisting other students, and is thoughtful in his interactions with others.”
In water polo, Cross earned First Team All-League, Second Team All-State, the Eagle Leadership Award, and team MVP. In robotics, Cross was nominated as a FRC Dean’s List Semifinalist by his team. Over the past two summers, Cross worked as a busser at Riverside Restaurant to save money for college.
Cross has always been motivated by the support of his parents.
“I am very grateful for everything they do for me,” said Cross. “The accomplishment most important to me is the improvement of my water polo team. I am super proud of everyone I had the pleasure of playing with this season, and I can’t wait to see them play next year.”
HRVHS water polo coach Kellie Dunne said, “Aden is an incredible leader for our team, leading with a calm, but confident presence that sets a strong, level tone for his teammates to follow. He works incredibly hard and also is great at mentoring the younger players on our team. Aden really helps elevate the level of play on our team with his positive attitude, great work ethic, and overall knowledge of the game.”
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