Herkimer Central School District senior Brian Flint said it felt “pretty good” when he recently received a Letter of Commendation for earning the status of a Commended Student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.
Commended Students placed in the top 50,000 students nationwide through the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Flint said his effort in school over the years prepared him for the test.
“I feel like I put in the work for it, so I’m happy I got it,” he said.
Herkimer High School Principal Zachary Abbe presented the Letter of Commendation to Flint from the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the program.
Flint said he knew he did pretty well on the test, but didn’t think it would be enough to receive this recognition.
Abbe, however, said school educators saw it coming.
“In all the years, his name has always come up as a stellar student – really right at the top of his grade forever, and so it was no surprise when that came in the mail a week or two ago,” Abbe said. “I saw his name, and I was like, ‘Well, you know, we kind of all expected this.’ Which is a good thing, but like he said, he’s put in the work. He’s been consistent over the years to get to that point. He didn’t just get lucky and show up on that day. He’s been working very hard for it, and it’s very well deserved.”
Flint said the recognition will be helpful for his resume and college applications. He plans to study electrical engineering in college, and he wants to apply to Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Clarkson University, University at Buffalo, Harvard University and Yale University.
His interest in engineering sparked from attending the Project Lead the Way program at Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District. He took one class there each year as a freshman, sophomore and junior and is in two classes as a senior.
Going into his freshman year and being good at math and science, he had the program suggested to him, and his parents supported the idea, so he went for it.
Flint said Project Lead the Way teacher Jordan Purinton and the hands-on approach of the program instead of a typical classroom experience helped inspire his interest in engineering.
“It’s definitely more of, ‘Hey, here’s all of this stuff we’re going to do throughout this year,’ and you know what you’re going to do,” Flint said. “He has finished projects up on the walls from past seniors and all this crazy stuff all over, and you’re like, ‘I’m going to do this?’ And then he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And then you start doing that thing the first day, and it’s just a slow buildup to that final project. At the end of the year, you’re like, ‘I learned how to do that.’ I enjoyed doing it too.”
Flint said he doesn’t have a specific job in mind yet but expects there will never be a shortage of need for electrical engineers and that having the degree could help him apply for any type of position.
“You go to anywhere to get a job, it doesn’t matter what it’s for, they’re going to be like, ‘Well, this guy’s an electrical engineer,’” Flint said.
Abbe said Flint’s knack for engineering showed itself during a recent activity at the high school when students competed in their morning groups to build the tallest tower possible using items such as spaghetti, tape and a marshmallow. Flint’s team won with a tower that stood more than 2 feet tall.
Flint quickly pointed out it was a joint effort among the students.
“But there’s that engineering mindset,” Abbe said, speaking to Flint. “You’ve got that background and have practiced those types of things, the problem solving and being able to adapt to get the job done.”
Herkimer Central School District senior Brian Flint (right) holds a Letter of Commendation presented to him by High School Principal Zachary Abbe (left) for earning the status of a Commended Student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program.