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

High school students the Robert W. Mong Jr. Scholarship.

SeMaj Musco of St. Mark’s School of Texas, Andrea Plascencia of Lewisville High School and Annie Xia of Trinity Christian Academy received the scholarships, which are awarded every year to high school seniors planning to pursue a career in journalism, communications or public relations.

The winners were honored during a reception Wednesday.

“I can tell by what I’ve read from you and even in short conversation — you love this for the right reasons,” Grant Moise, publisher and president of, told the winners.

The scholarship’s namesake, Bob Mong, president of the University of North Texas at Dallas and editor emeritus of , spoke about the publication’s commitment to growing young talent like Musco, Plascencia and Xia.

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

Come fall, Musco said he plans to keep pursuing his passions for both sports and civil rights while attending Morehouse College.

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

He also plans to be involved with The Maroon Tiger, Morehouse College’s student newspaper.

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

Plascencia will attend Rice University this fall as an English major. Over the last few years, she was heavily involved with her school’s student paper.

Moving forward in journalism, Plascencia said she wants her writing to impact readers.

“Anything where I can be with people, write for people, write things that people resonate with — as long as I’m doing that, then I know I’ll be in the right field,” she said.

Xia found her love for journalism after she asked for a New York Times subscription for Christmas. During high school, she ran her own blog with hundreds of followers.

“It’s not measurable in tangible ways, but having to write something each week forced me to find my own voice and practice writing,” Xia said. “It helped me so much more than I can realize.”

She’ll continue using her voice in the fall at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Ultimately, she hopes to write longform feature or investigative stories.

Keith Campbell, managing editor of The News, echoed Mong and Moise and expressed his faith in the three winners as they embark on their collegiate careers.

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