Meet the 2007-2008 UTSA Student Alumni Scholars!

Emily Kleinjan
Scholarship Benefactor: Pat ’89 and Terri Clynes

Classification: Freshman - first year scholarship recipient
Major: Biology
High School: New Braunfels High School, top 16% percent
Honors/Awards: Recognized among "Texas Distinguished Scholars"  for the class of 2008. Active in H.O.S.A. (Health Occupation Students of America) and served as an elected officer.
Community Service: Child care service for needy local families, and neighborhood families; baked small loaves of banana bread to welcome visitors at church. Volunteer, New Braunfels Civic Center and New Braunfels Children's museum. During all four years of high school, volunteered at Rookie Camp. Currently an officer in  H.O.S.A. (Health Occupation Students of America), helping with the local blood bank drive.

Future plans: Career in dental hygiene

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present."  - Eleanor Roosevelt

Rebekah Lloyd
Scholarship Benefactor: HEB

Classification: Sophomore - first-year scholarship recipient
Major/Minor: Criminal Justice/Forensics
Honors/Awards: National Honor Society, Who’s Who, Texas Globe Scholar with Distinction
Community Service: Work with elderly, park clean-ups, Democratic Organization Group

Future plans: To protect the public from criminals and promote community justice.

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Desiree Martinez
Scholarship Benefactor: Mary Anne Morgan ’77 honoring
Maj. Russell J. Morgan, USAF Ret. and Eleanor Morgan

Classification: Senior - fourth year scholarship recipient
Major/Minor: Interdisciplinary Studies/Special Education
Community Service: Volunteer, Sunshine Cottage School for the Deaf; tutor students with special needs

Future Plans: To obtain a masters degree in deaf education and hearing science from University of Texas Health Science Center and become a special education teacher of the deaf and hearing-impaired

“I am responsible for my own college expenses and determined to prove that I can achieve what I deserve not only as a minority but as a woman. I am extremely proud of who I have become. I am a proud Hispanic ready to succeed.”

Rafael Moras
Scholarship Benefactors: Betty ’76 and Howard Halff

Classification: Junior, UTSA Honors College – third year scholarship recipient
Major: Music: Voice - Performance
Honors/Awards: Presidential Scholar in the Arts; title role, The Crittenden Opera Workshop’s World Premiere production of Tony Caruso’s Last Broadcast; master classes with maestro Placido Domingo Metropolitan Opera Soprano Sharon Sweet, 2-time UTSA Concerto and Aria Competition winner
Community Service: Volunteer music minister for Holy Trinity Church

Future Plans: A career in music performing as an operatic tenor in local, regional, national and international venues

"I feel extremely fortunate to be in possession of something no young person learning to sing opera should ever be without, and that is a solid support group. Together with the many other friends and family members in my life, this scholarship and the support of all in the Honors College is yet another extension of just that kind of invaluable support; I'm extremely grateful and honored to receive it.”

Shuchi Nagpal
Scholarship Benefactor: Martha Hicks ’78 ’88 honoring
Ivor H. and Sewell M. Schultz

Classification: Graduate - first year scholarship recipient
Major/Minor: Economics/ Pre-law
Honors/Awards: Performance scholarship Pre-law
Community Service: Volunteer work with San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (S.A.T.A.I.), a not-for-profit, city-funded organization helping start-up companies; community outreach programs with city leaders, sharing their vision of development and progress for San Antonio and the country at large.

Future plans: After getting a masters degree in public administration, I plan to spearhead outreach efforts in small business development, children's literacy and tutoring, and neighborhood revitalization. I hope to develop and cultivate the skills I will need to meet the challenges of an increasingly mixed economy of social entrepreneurship

"Arise, awake and stop not, till your goal is reached." - Swami Vivekanand

Tricia Napp
Scholarship Benefactor: The Capital Group Companies

Classification: Graduate - first year scholarship recipient
Major: Masters in Accounting
Honors/Awards: Presidential Graduate Scholarship, National Scholars Honors Society

Future plans: Obtain my CPA in the near future and eventually run my own firm.

“I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”  - Henry David Thoreau

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