THREE SENIORS CLOSING IN ON HONORS.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Polet Bagatourian dreams of being elected to federal office, Andrew Bagwell wants to be an engineer and Mkrtich Ohanyan is thinking of becoming a cardiologist.

And all three Glendale Unified high school seniors are in the running to get money for college from the National Merit Scholarship Program, after having been selected from among 16,000 students nationwide.

``It feels really nice to be recognized for something to do with academics,'' Bagwell said. ``Because mostly the news you hear is negative kind of things about high school, it's kind of nice that they recognize students for certain achievements.''

Based on their performance on a Preliminary SAT test last year, the three Glendale students were selected as semifinalists in the Illinois- based National Merit Scholarship Corp.'s competition.

Of the 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, about 15,000 will be chosen as finalists and, from that group, a committee for the not-for-profit corporation will select 2,500 students to receive $2,500 each for college.

Bagatourian participates in six clubs at Crescenta Valley High. ``I'd like to go into politics, like end up in the House of Representatives or Senate or even end up in the White House. It's a goal,'' she said.

``All the men in my mother's side of the family have been involved in politics. But that was in Iran before the (Islamic) revolution, and the revolution happened and they came here.''

In the meantime Bagatourian has an abiding interest in history.

``History is really the only reason that advances in math or science or language are ever made,'' she said. ``Because you have to look back in history and figure out the right forms of government and stuff so all of your knowledge has the right environment to grow.''

Bagwell got interested in engineering when a friend's father took him on a tour of the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium, which he had been in charge of building. Bagwell is also into sports, having played baseball and tennis for teams at Herbert Hoover High.

He wants to go to the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, or UC Berkeley.

``I like the West Coast,'' Andrew said. ``The weather's a little too cold for me back east.''

Ohanyan plays the clarinet and founded a club called the Society for the Betterment of School, which meets to discuss issues such as the dress code at Clark Magnet High. His father is from Armenia and his mother is from El Salvador, so Mkrtich speaks three languages.

He hopes to go to medical school and become a cardiologist, and getting selected as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist could help him do that.

``It really put a smile on my face because the opportunities this could bring if I become a finalist, it would be really great,'' he said.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will announce the finalists and scholarship recipients next year. In addition to the $2,500 scholarships, participating corporations and universities also provide scholarships ranging from $500 to more than $2,000 a year.

A total of 8,200 students will receive some form of scholarship through the program, which receives no government funding.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Seniors Mkrtich Ohanyan, of Clark Magnet High, left; Polet Bagatourian, of Crescenta Valley High, center; and Andrew Bagwell, of Hoover High are among semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer