Senior Asa Royal won a $2,500 National Achievement Scholarship provided by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) . This scholarship is specifically for Black American teenagers who scored high on the preliminary Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) his/her junior year and were chosen “based on abilities, skills, and achievements,” according the the NMSC website.

He was one of the 700 students across the nation to win the scholarship. Only 10 of these scholarships were available to Missouri senior black students.

“I was very happy. Money is money,” Royal said.

The competition for these scholarships was very fierce. A group of 1,600 semifinalists was selected to begin with. Then, the students had to go through an application process that included having to take/submit SAT scores to ensure they were still doing as well as they did on the PSAT  their junior year.

After that, 1,300 students are notified that they are finalists to receive the scholarship. The 700 winners are selected from their scores along with abilities, accomplishments, and goals.

Royal scored a 229 on his PSAT, which means he scored better than 99.51% of other male test takers.

“When I got my score back in November of my junior year, I kind of knew I’d qualify. But they didn’t tell us officially until September of this year that I could apply,” Royal said.

The names of the 700 students who received the awards were released on April 8, 2015 for the media, but Royal was notified in February of his accomplishment.

Sophomore and sister of Royal, Arya Royal said, “I’m definitely proud of him as a sister. It’s going to be hard to live up to his level (of accomplishment).”

Rockwood had another winner besides Royal, a senior at Marquette named Michael Robinson.

This isn’t Royal’s first time winning a scholarship. He has also won a couple of private scholarships and has received offers from many different universities for a full ride or for free tuition.

Royal is considering fully funded scholarships from Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and Miami University. He is considering a triple-major in philosophy, electrical engineering, and computer science, but he thinks it’s sure to change as he goes through college.

“Anything I can get [for tuition money] is great,” Royal said.