Congratulations to our 2025 Scholarship Winners

PBKAAGA is pleased to present seven scholarships to high school seniors, so that they can attend the college of their choice. We were privileged to collaborate with Breakthrough Central Texas to identify these students, the first generation in their families to have a college experience.

In addition, PBKAAGA has awarded a scholarship to a current college student, to enable her to continue her studies.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Alexandra Valencia-Serrano 

Alexandra Valencia-Serrano is a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. During her time in school, she was an editor in the LASA newspaper and a Culture Fest committee member in LASA’s Diversity Council in her aspirations to keep the student body informed and celebrate the different backgrounds of her classmates. After taking freshman biology, she became fascinated by DNA and went to receive her Level I Biotechnology certification in pursuit of a STEM career in biochemistry and bioinformatics.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Physicians Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Reem Al Khafaji 

Reem Al Khafaji is originally from Baghdad, Iraq, and moved to the United States at age 10. Throughout her high school career, she developed a passion for medicine as she navigated through medical internships and community service. She is the parliamentarian for Health Occupations Students of America as well as the Board of Directors Chairman for Leadership Experience Opportunity clubs at Hutto High School. Reem Al Khafaji has also shown academic scholarship through her top scholar awards in AP Psychology and AP World History at her high school including being recognized nationwide as an AP Scholar by College Board. Reem will begin her studies as a Biology major at the University of Texas at Austin in the Fall of 2025 on the pre-medicine pathway. She enjoys debate, playing the piano, and spending time with her cat, Tuna.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Chelsey Guzman 

Throughout her high school career, some of Chelsey Guzman’s notable accomplishments consist of community involvement and self-growth. The St. Stephen’s community has opened doors for an enriching, well-rounded education. Taking advantage of the resources offered to her, she has explored her interests in arts as her talents in Ceramics have blossomed. Chelsey has also acted as a leader in her club Espacios Compartidos and served as the Varsity Swim Team Captain her junior and senior year. Her leadership positions have allowed her to grow her networking and problem-solving skills. She finds great joy in being a role model for the younger generation and does her best to inspire them to be the best version of themselves. The rigorous curriculum has allowed Chelsey to take science courses that interest her such as astrophysics. In astrophysics, she has deepened her understanding of the universe and its complex components. Similarly to her passion of neuroscience, astrophysics has endless possibilities and intricate details that challenge her to think elaborately with an open mind. Moreover, one of her proudest achievements in her high school career has been her publication in Congress Quarterly, the medical magazine for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Chelsey earned the opportunity to publish an article about her personal experience with neuroscience as the recipient of the inaugural “Congress of Neurological Surgeons Pathway to Neurosurgery” award. She is blessed to have had such an enriching high school experience that will guide her towards making her dream of becoming a neurologist a reality.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Chidinma Nwankwo 

Chidinma Nwankwo is heavily involved with her church, RCCG Cornerstone Church Austin. She became a volunteer over the summer of 2021 to help the teachers have more people in class to watch the children. After 2 years of volunteering, she became a teacher for her church’s children’s department. Chidinma teaches 1st to 5th graders and finds it rewarding to encourage children in their faith in God. A prominent role that she has in any club in school is the role of President for a club called Tech Girls. She works closely with the sponsor of the club to ensure they have a successful meeting run and that each girl can enjoy the STEM activities. Her aspiration after high school is to go to a 4-year university to pursue her passion for nursing. Chidinma plans to get a BSN in a university she can afford. She has already started taking dual credit classes in high school in hopes for it to count towards credits in college she doesn’t have to take again. She is also taking a certification course called Patient Care Technician, which helps her be familiar with the medical field. Once she acquires the BSN, Chidinma plans to work in a pediatric facility because she has a passion for helping children.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Emily Alpuche 

Emily Alpuche attends Austin High School. She is a lieutenant officer for her school’s Ballet Folklorico, contributing to their twenty-five plus team awards from competitions and teaching new students corps dances. In addition, Emily is the events coordinator for the Hispanic Student Alliance, where she has helped coordinate events such as Red Card Day for legal awareness surrounding the ICE raids, and making a Día de Muertos alter. Currently, she is interning as a lab aide for her school’s science department and works as a retail associate. Emily aspires to pursue biomedical engineering and to design medical devices.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Johnson Phung 

Johnson Phung is a senior at Manor New Technology High School. He ranked 3rd for UIL Ready Writing and advanced to Regional competitions. Johnson received the written communication award from his school and plans on attending the University of Texas at Austin to pursue a degree in Radio-Television-Film. In the future, Johnson wants to be a screenwriter who writes scripts and helps produce films that everyone can resonate with and find comfort in.

Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Scholarship for Academic Excellence - $2500

Rocio Villafuerte 

Rocio Villafuerte is a hard-working, bilingual high school student with a track record of academic excellence. She is passionate about public service and community involvement highlighted through volunteer work. Rocio is looking to attain a Bachelor’s in Medical Laboratory Science.

Philip F. Patman Memorial Baccalaureate Scholarship          $2500

Bess Hagan

Bess Hagan is a senior at Southwestern University pursuing a B.A. in Computer Science with a minor in Data Analytics. She has conducted undergraduate research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she analyzed virtual learning data to study persistence in computing education. For her senior capstone, she is developing an educational video game that teaches data science concepts to children. This summer, she will continue her research through SU’s SURF program, focusing on procedural content generation using generative AI. Bess is passionate about accessibility and using computing to drive equity and inclusion.