No headline

A pair of Columbia Falls High School graduates were selected as two of 161 Presidential Scholars from across the nation — one of the highest honors bestowed on a high school graduate.

Colin Norick and Annabel Conger are the only two scholars from Montana. They’ve been debate partners for four years, taking first place at the state competition in January.

Additionally, both Norick and Conger were accepted at Stanford University, where the acceptance rate is less than five percent.

Norick, 18, has previously been recognized for his academic excellence and leadership. He received a $20,000 Coca-Cola scholarship and has also been selected as an Elks National Most Valuable Student, which earned him a $50,000 scholarship.

Norick qualified to become a presidential scholar through scientific performance.

At the military-sponsored National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in April, Norick placed second in the biomedical science category.

His project was behavioral, he noted, taking a look at the effect of multitasking and texting on cognitive performance.

“I was grouped in with the cancer-solving projects,” he laughed, explaining that this makes his second place even more prestigious.

Norick will attend Stanford in the fall to double major in cognitive science and computer science, with an astronomy minor. He hopes to work in artificial intelligence, and to have an adventurous life that will someday bring him back to Montana.

“I plan on traveling and moving around a lot, but I love mountains. I love winter. I love seasons. The mountains pull you back. There’s a gravity to them,” he said.

This summer, Norick will travel to Maryland for a paid internship with the Department of Defense.

Conger qualified as a presidential scholar based on her test scores, scoring 34 out of a possible 36 on the ACT. After qualifying, she said, she had to go through a “fairly intensive” multi-step application and judging process.

“I had to write like six essays,” she noted.

Both Norick and Conger are planning their trips to Washington, D.C. to be honored by the White House for their achievements as presidential scholars.

“I’m really hopeful that we’ll get to tour the White House,” Conger said. “I’ve never been to D.C., so I’m just excited to see the area.”

Conger, 17, hails from California but has lived in Columbia Falls since her toddler years.

In addition to her strong performance on the speech and debate team, she ran cross-country for six years,

And she’s also involved with her school community – she just started the high school’s first gay-straight alliance.

At Stanford, she hopes to major in a subject related to physics or biology.

“They have a really cool astrophysics program that I’m looking into,” she explained.

Conger enjoys reading, and is fascinated by outer space.

“My dream is to work for NASA, maybe as an astronaut,” she said.