Press release from Asheville City Schools
Asheville High School’s Nick Mueller and Xander White have been selected as finalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program!
Students first compete for college scholarships and recognition by qualifying with a high score on the PSAT; approximately 1.5 million entrants qualified this year. The highest scorers across the nation are then categorized as a commended scholar, semi-finalist or finalist.
Mueller and White are among just 15,000 finalists nationwide. This distinction now puts them in the running to receive scholarships worth nearly $30 million.
Nick Mueller is the son of Nathan and Tina Mueller. He plays trombone, was part of the Marching Band all four years and cites band as “the biggest family [he’s] had in school.” This year, he was part of the all-region jazz band, third chair for all-district band and is now eligible to audition for the all-state band. Additionally, he’s a four-year student-athlete on the varsity golf team and part of Dr. Nick Rigas’ 4th Level Engineering Class. Throughout high school, he’s taken 10 Advanced Placement courses. He is also an active member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and has participated in several service projects with their youth group. In fact, in 2018, he traveled to Houston to support their community cleanup efforts following Hurricane Harvey. Although Mueller’s college plans are currently undecided, he knows he wants to major in aerospace engineering. His ultimate goal is to work for NASA.
Xander White is the son of Craig White and Sasha Vrtunski. He, too, plays trombone and has been part of the marching band and wind symphony. This year, he was even the Drum Major, a role he juggled with being the football team’s starting kicker. In fact, he made the all-conference team for his work on the football field. Additionally, he is part of the Math Honors Society and a member of the Asheville High School Robotics Team. He is also actively involved in the International Thespian Society and will be the acting technical director for this year’s Quixotica. Throughout high school, he has taken nine Advanced Placement classes as well as many honors classes. Outside of school, he has also completed conservation work in Maine. Although White is currently undecided on a major or school for next year, he says he’s “definitely attending a four-year college.”
Congratulations to these two outstanding Cougars! We can’t wait to hear more once Merit Scholarship winners are announced later this spring.
Asheville is a great place…for white men. Hope these two understand how fortunate they are and will pay it forward, especially for those who weren’t fortunate enough to be born Caucasian and male.