Villarino, Chen named top of 2024 SSHS Senior Class

Sulphur Springs High School Tuesday afternoon announced Alexis Villarino and Asia Chen as the Class of 2024 valedictorian and salutatorian Tuesday afternoon. Only 0.007 grade points separated the top two students.

Valedictorian

Alexis Villarino, 17, was named valedictorian, graduating with a 4.575 grade point average (GPA) . She is the daughter of Dr. Leah Larsen and Dr. Mario Villarino of Sulphur Springs. Larsen is a veterinarian, and the elder Villarino is the Hopkins County AgriLife extension agent. She plans to attend Texas A&M University starting this fall, a third generation Aggie. Villarino said she plans to major in architecture, with two minors — sustainable urban planning and Spanish. She’s able to have the double minor due to the multiple advanced placement (AP) credits she’s earned while attending SSHS.

She considered Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas A&M in College Station and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, but an unexpected gift made her decision much easier. Villarino recently learned she’s been selected to receive a highly coveted Terry Scholarship.

“I was very emotional when I got the letter [Monday],” she said. “It’s a very competitive scholarship.”

Terry Scholarships are full ride, last dollar scholarships that cover housing, tuition and books for up to eight semesters. They are awarded annually by the Houston-based Terry Foundation to select high school graduates who will attend one of 11 Texas universities. These include University of Texas — Austin; Texas A&M University; University of Houston; Texas State University; University of Texas — Dallas; University of Texas — San Antonio; Texas Tech University; University of North Texas; Texas Woman’s University; University of Texas — Arlington; and University of Texas — El Paso.

The Foundation usually awards no more than 20 to 24 scholarships each year. Recipients must have a record of leadership and character, strong academic abilities as evidenced by grades and a demonstrated financial need in order to qualify. They must also participate in an interview with a panel of six current and former Terry Scholars.

Villarino’s lengthy list of accomplishments includes being a National Merit Scholar finalist; vice president of Hopkins County 4-H; a member of: SSHS Wildcat band and SSHS state champion film, Latino historical essay and UIL literary criticism ready writing teams. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, SSHS Key Club and Student Council and has held two part-time jobs.

Salutatorian

Asia Chen, 18, of Sulphur Springs was named salutatorian with a 4.568 GPA. She is the daughter of Jennifer Jiang and Su Chen. She has not settled on which university she will attend, but her top two choices are Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Stanford University in Stanford, California. She has been accepted to both schools and is interested in becoming an anesthesiologist, but also wants to explore interdisciplinary program options, including programs in nurse anesthesia, sociocultural and biomedical computation.

Her parents, Jiang and Chen, own and operate Chen’s Kitchen restaurant in Sulphur Springs. Their work has prevented them from attending many of Chen’s school events, but she said both parents and her younger brother will be in the audience for her graduation.

Chen is a member of the SSHS Wildcat Band and wind ensemble. She has been an active academic UIL participant. She and her calculator applications team won the state competition last year. Recently, Chen placed first at the district UIL competition in editorial writing, second in calculator applications and fourth in mathematics and science individual events. She also competed as a member of the science team, which won second place at the district UIL meet. Chen is advancing to compete individually in the editorial writing, calculator applications and mathematics events and as part of the science team at the regional UIL academic contest at Texas A&M University — Commerce on Friday, April 26.

“My coaches really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone,” Chen said. “I couldn’t have made it to state without them.”

Chen is also a National Merit Scholarship finalist and the winner of the 2023-2024 Air Force Association Chapter #416 essay contest. Her essay defined and defended her position on the topic “Hypersonic Weapons: Why the need for speed?”

Villarino and Chen, along with the rest of the SSHS Class of 2024 graduates will be honored during commencement exercises which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 26 at Gerald Prim Stadium.