Three high school seniors from North Texas win Robert W. Mong Jr. Scholarship

The Dallas Morning News has awarded three high school students the Robert W. Mong Jr. Scholarship.

SeMaj Musco from St. Mark’s School of Texas, Andrea Plascencia from Lewisville High School, and Annie Xia from Trinity Christian Academy received the scholarships, which are awarded each year to high school graduates who pursue careers in journalism, Strive for communication or public relations.

The winners were honored at a reception on The News on Wednesday.

“I can tell from what I’ve read of you, and even from brief conversations – you love this for all the right reasons,” Grant Moise, editor and president of The News, told the winners.

The scholarship is named after Bob Mong, President of the University of North Texas at Dallas and Editor-Emeritus of The News. He spoke about the publication’s commitment to promoting young talents such as Musco, Plascencia and Xia.

“All of our recipients over the years have been pretty good, but this is the best text I’ve ever seen,” said Mong of the three winners. “You are serious writers and thinkers, and congratulations.”

From left: SeMaj Musco, Andrea Plascencia and Annie Xia(Juan Figueroa)

In the fall, Musco said he plans to pursue his passions for sports and civil rights while attending Morehouse College.

While in high school, Musco was a member of the National Black MBA Association Leaders of Tomorrow and the Dallas Area Diversity Youth Organization. He was also the associate editor of St. Mark’s sports magazine, Endzone.

He also plans to work on The Maroon Tiger, Morehouse College’s student newspaper.

“I just want to tell people’s stories,” said Musco. “And I want to be someone who is able to leave his mark on someone else in the world.”

Plascencia will be majoring in English at Rice University this fall. In the last few years she has been intensively involved in the work with students at her school.

Plascencia is a leader in journalism and wants her writing to touch readers.

“Anything I can be with people, write for people, write things that appeal to people – as long as I do that I know I’m in the right field,” she said.

Xia discovered her love for journalism after asking for a subscription to the New York Times for Christmas. While in high school, she ran her own blog with hundreds of followers.

“It’s not tangible, but since I had to write something every week, I had to find my own voice and practice writing,” Xia said. “It has helped me so much more than I can imagine.”

She will continue using her voice at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism this fall. Ultimately, she hopes to write long versions or investigative stories.

Keith Campbell, executive editor of The News, agreed with Mong and Moise and expressed his confidence in the three winners as they embark on their college careers.

“I know journalism has a bright future just chatting with the three of you,” he said.

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