LIVE OAK, Fla. — Melody Christian Academy senior Timmy Choe was recently named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

Choe, who attended Suwannee High School for three years prior to Melody Christian, is one of about 16,000 high school students nationwide to advance to semifinalist standing. Of the 1.6 million students who took last year’s preliminary SAT test to enter the National Merit Scholarship Program, Choe finished in the top 1 percent.

He’ll now have the chance to advance in the competition and become one of the 7,500 students to receive a National Merit Scholarship.

Choe hopes to combine two of his biggest passions in college.

“The ultimate goal — the best outcome I could hope for is MIT Aerospace Engineering,” Choe said. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.

“We took a class field trip in fifth grade to Cape Canaveral. I loved it. I’ve always loved space and math.”

Choe is also a two-sport athlete at Suwannee High, competing in cross country and track and field. He reached the FHSAA cross country state final twice and was part of Suwannee’s 4×4 relay team that advanced to the track and field state final last season. Choe is a member of Suwannee High’s Brain Bowl team.

With the amount of time he puts into athletics, Choe credited his parents for always keeping his priorities straight and making sure school comes first. He also thanked his math teacher, Mrs. Paula McMillan, for making higher-level math and calculus interesting.

Finalists for the National Merit Scholarship will be chosen in February.