- March 4, 2026
The background was perfect for a photo of four Flagler Palm Coast High School seniors holding up framed certificates from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Giant black letters affixed to the wall behind them read, “THERE IS NO FINISH LINE.” For these students, achievement is a daily quest. Adniel Alonso and Mitchell Spencer Edelstein have been selected as National Merit Scholar Finalists. They are among about 15,000 finalists nationwide. Syed Haider and Ava Mello just missed out on becoming Merit Scholarship semifinalists and were named National Merit Commended Scholars.
“These four students have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to academic excellence, and this honor is well deserved,” FPC Principal Bobby Bossardet said. “They represent the very best of FPC — driven, disciplined and determined to succeed.”
Haider, who is ranked first in FPC’s senior class with a 5.5 weighted grade point average, is also one of 2,550 students in the nation to be awarded a QuestBridge Match Scholarship, worth over $325,000. He will major in biomedical engineering at Cornell University.
Mello, who wants to one day become a Disney Imagineer, is one of 100 students out of thousands who applied to be selected to the Disney Dreamers Academy.
“For four days I get to meet Imagineers and celebrities, and it's all paid for,” she said. “So, it's a great opportunity.”
Mello is third in the senior class with a GPA over 5.3. She had planned to major in mechanical engineering but said she might switch to industrial engineering. She is leaning toward attending the University of Florida but is still waiting to receive acceptance notices from some other universities.
Edelstein is just 15. He skipped first grade. His mother, Cheryl Edelstein, combined fourth and fifth grade studies together when she homeschooled him in Minnesota. When they moved to Florida, he finished the school year at Old Kings Elementary and began seventh grade at Buddy Taylor Middle School at 10. He began his high school career in 10th grade, taking a couple of courses through Florida Virtual School that summer.
“He has a natural love for learning and curiosity, and he just soaked things up so quickly. He was just so passionate about learning things,” Cheryl Edelstein said.
“When I was in pre-K,” he said, “they would take us down to the library, and I had an instinct to go towards the human anatomy books. I just thought it was cool. I've never been into fantasy or anything like that. Non-fiction is more of my style.”
Edelstein has been dual-enrolled at Daytona State College since he was in eighth grade and will receive his associate degree from DSC this May when he receives his high school diploma. He plans to major in finance. He wore a university of Miami sweatshirt when he and the others received their certificates on Feb. 26, but his National Merit Benacquisto Scholarship will cover all expenses at a Floria public university. He ranks fifth in the senior class with a 5.34 GPA.
“My passion has sort of changed over time,” he said of his decision to focus on finance. “I used to be more into math or science, but now I'm focused on money, and I really like the corporate world, the business world. I sort of want to be an entrepreneur, but I feel like going to college and getting the finance degree and working in the finance departments of big businesses would give me the personal experience I could apply towards my own life and being successful.”
Alonso said he feels like “a bit of an oddball” in the group, because he has a 5.24 GPA ranking 13th in FPC’s senior class. He plans to major in engineering and is leaning toward UF under his Benacquisto Scholarship.
“I've always had this passion for math, and more recently, I took IB physics (standard level), which showed that I also have a passion for that kind of applied math in the field of physics and possibly engineering,” Alonso said. “Right now, I'm considering majoring in electrical engineering.”
All four of the students are board members of FPC’s Mu Alpha Theta mathematics honor society. Alonso and Haider are the top scorers in their division in the competitions.
“Originally, I was actually planning to major in mathematics,” Alonso said. “When I took physics, I ended up spending a lot of time studying for the exam at the end of the year, and I think that's when my passion for it really came out. Of course, it has that strong connection to math. And the fact that it can be physically applied to the real world is just very enticing to me. It really piques my interest.”
Reaching their achievements have taken a lot of hard work. They’ve studied to improve their scores on the PSAT and SAT since they were sophomores to be considered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. But sometimes a serendipitous event can make all the difference.
Haider had never heard about the QuestBridge Scholarship until he found a pamphlet about it in his math teacher’s classroom.
“I was like, ‘what is this?’ Only then when I found out about it, I ended up filling the application about a day before it was due,” he said. “If I never went into his classroom that day, or if I never remembered to fill out the application, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now. So, I'm just really thankful for that opportunity.”
They all agree that their success had come from following thier passion.
“There's a quote I like,” Edelstein said. “‘You can't have everything in life, but you could have anything.’ And I believe, if you're passionate about something and you have goals, just stick to it. Have the self-discipline, because whatever you want to accomplish, things might not work out all the time, but every mistake, every failure is a learning opportunity. And if you continue to persevere at what you really want, and you have all of that passion behind you, you'll definitely get it someday.”
