By sacrificing sleep and pushing himself to preserve through Harding’s rigorous work, senior Isaiah Gilley was greatly rewarded.

This past week, Gilley was announced as a National Merit Semifinalist.

Even though he did not have much confidence that he would be a scholar, Gilley’s parents encouraged him to go to a PSAT test prep course.

“I was like, ‘I’ll do my best on this test and see what happens,’” Gilley said.

Gilley has managed to maintain high grades throughout his entire high school career.

“Every night, I don’t go to bed until the homework is done,” Gilley said.

Additionally, Gilley’s parents were happy to see him be named as a National Merit Semifinalist.

“They were proud. They sent me to the PSAT prep course so they were like, ‘yeah, good. Yeah, you did what we wanted you to do.’ They wouldn’t have been mad if I didn’t get it, but they were happy that I did,” Gilley said.

When it comes to studying, Gilley is not influenced by his parents. Instead, he motivates himself.

“Some people’s parents make them study so much a night or whatever, but mine, yeah they don’t do that,” Gilley said.

As for the future, Gilley plans to attend University of Oklahoma, but he is not sure what he is going to study.

“I’m thinking about something in STEM but I have no idea specifically.”