Unlike the majority of college sophomores, Valerie Johnson ’10 of Bay City, Texas, knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. Thanks to the financial help she’s receiving from a Texas A&M Foundation President’s Endowed Scholarship (PES), she’s well on her way to bringing her goals to fruition.
Johnson is the fifth Aggie to benefit from a Texas A&M Foundation PES funded by Betsy and the late Willard E. Simpson Jr. ’38. Betsy Simpson says she’s pleased that someone of Johnson’s caliber is benefiting from the PES scholarship endowment. “Some of these students wouldn’t be able to go to Texas A&M if they didn't have scholarship help,” Simpson said. “So providing this scholarship has been satisfying.”
PES awards are considered the most prestigious scholarships at Texas A&M. They are merit-based, open only to the nation’s top high school seniors. The undergraduate scholarships typically support students with $12,000 over four years, plus $1,000 for study abroad. Creating a PES endowment entails a minimum pledge of $100,000.
For Johnson, the PES relieves much of the financial burden of college. This translates into fewer hours spent as a student worker with the Mays School Development Office and more time enjoying what Texas A&M has to offer. Involvement in the Freshman Business Initiative (FBI) program for business honors students has been particularly meaningful to Johnson. As a freshman, the program helped her find her place at such a large university. This year, she’s an FBI peer mentor and next year she’ll serve as a program coordinator.
She’s also involved in the University Scholars program, a new prison entrepreneurship initiative offered through the Business Honors program, a summer abroad leadership program in Greece and a government internship in Washington, D.C. She volunteers at area elementary schools and spends most weekends working for Habitat for Humanity.
Johnson was recently accepted into the Mays Business School’s five-year professional accounting program, which offers dual bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She hopes to pursue a career in strategic consulting in which she can guide corporate restructuring and reorganization.
For more information about creating President's Endowed Scholarship, click here.
By Kara Bounds Socol
