National Merit semifinalist: Coronado scholar’s interests run gamut from music to golf

Melanie Chambers dresses more like a teacher than a high school senior. At 16, she’s actually younger than her classmates.

"Step into my office," said the National Merit Scholarship semifinalist as she approached Coronado High School’s choir room, where she spends almost six hours every school day.

Melanie’s PSAT score — 2280 out of 2400 — earned her the semifinalist spot, placing her in the top 1 percent of all seniors in the nation. The PSAT, cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is a standardized exam that measures critical reading skills, math problem-solving skills and writing skills.

"Six questions wrong," she said, still remembering which ones. Her Henderson school, near Sunridge Heights Parkway and Coronado Center Drive, produced seven semifinalists. Her score was the second-highest. "Luke Sanford beat me by one question. One question."

But she jokes about it with him, another sign of her maturity and being comfortable in her own skin. She’s not an awkward teenager. She’s more of an adult who is juggling more obligations than she has time for. She sings in two school choirs, works as a student aid for a choir class, volunteers with the National Charity League and belongs to Drama Club. On Tuesday, she held auditions for an a cappella club she’s starting.

She is also a nationally ranked junior golfer with 60 titles to her name. She has reached the Junior National Golf Championships the past seven years. It accepts only about 100 players per age group. Her handicap is zero.

When golf season overlaps with school in the fall, her life is a nonstop cycle of academics, choir and golf.

"I feel guilty if I spend an entire Saturday doing nothing," Melanie said. "There’s something I could be doing."

No one thrusts these obligations upon her, especially not her parents who sometimes tell her she must pick one activity over another. That’s why cheerleading is no longer part of her repertoire, said her mother, Hayley Chambers.

"Sometimes, we have to step back and ask, ‘Is she the classic over-scheduled child?’ " said Chambers, who still has to remind her A-student daughter to do her homework because she’s so busy with extracurricular activities. "I think Melanie would be happy if there were 30 hours in a day and eight days in a week."

But Melanie realizes the trap that can trigger — compulsion.

"Not sleeping, worrying and stunting your growth isn’t a good thing," said Melanie, who doesn’t study late into the night and isn’t rushing into adulthood.

Her earrings hint at that — little white unicorns.

In kindergarten, she remembers the teacher putting students in reading groups based on skill level. Melanie was alone, a one-student reading group. She skipped first grade. The school wanted her to also skip second grade, but her parents wouldn’t have that. They moved her forward to be with like-minded children, but didn’t want to make her awkwardly young among her classmates.

As a parent, she didn’t set out to create a National Merit semifinalist, said Hayley Chambers, who earned the same honor as a high school student. She just wanted her daughter to have the freedom to be.

And Melanie wants to be a music teacher. She plans to major in music at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, where she will play collegiate golf. But golf isn’t her passion, and neither is becoming a highly paid professional. She doesn’t want to be a doctor, psychologist (like her father) or lawyer (like her mother).

Melanie regrets straying away from art as a child.

"People told me, ‘No, Melanie. You’re too smart to be an artist.’ "

She gets that now from some adults for wanting to teach music.

"Ah, Melanie, that’s such a waste of your intelligence," she’s sometimes told. But her parents would never utter those words, Melanie said.

Even when supporting Melanie, Chambers doesn’t claim to know what’s best for her.

"I know …" said Chambers who cut herself short and started over. "I think she would be unhappy working 40 hours a week behind a desk."

Melanie considers comments about music teaching being a waste a mistake. But listening is as far as she goes.

She said, "If I don’t love it, that would be a waste."