Maroon & Gold Annual Fund

Your gift to the Maroon and Gold Annual fund makes a difference at TXST. Donations support students through scholarships, academic support, and critical needs across the university. You are helping Bobcats achieve their NEXT!

Steven Dominguez

My name is Steven Dominguez, and I am writing to express my undying gratitude for being selected to receive this scholarship. After having an aneurysm, while driving, causing me to swerve into oncoming traffic and a car accident, I was lost and had no direction for my life. After treatment and recovery, I did not feel I had the mental capacity to succeed in college. It was not until my son was born three years ago, did my ambition return. My time at Texas State has shown me that I just had to work a bit harder than I was previously accustomed to. I am a management major graduating in December, and I have decided to work towards a master's in education and an eventual Ph.D. to become a Superintendent and find ways to improve the public education system! By doing this, I believe my second chance, after the accident, would be well spent. To honor you and this award I will work to meet my goal and pay it forward and become a future donor for students to realize their goals!

Elizabeth Bustamante

I am Elizabeth Bustamante, and with your aid, I will have the ability to continue my educational success. My mother would constantly, and still to this day, sit me down and instruct me to focus on my education and seek higher education. She knew that my family would not be able to financially support my educational endeavors. This was something I knew from a young age, and I knew I had to rely on gracious and charitable families like yours. I was a research assistant for the pilot program at Austin Police Department Cadet Academy and I rode out on several ride-outs with Texas State UPD. I was, at the time, a pledgee for LAE (a professional co-ed organization), but now I am the pledge educator and involved in recruitment. Currently, I am working two jobs, actively involved in LAE and editing drafts for cadet academy purposes. To further my endeavors, I have sought out an opportunity to reconstruct the Spanish curriculum at APD cadet academy. I have many reasons to pursue my higher education, but that would not be tangible without the aid of scholarships. I will forever be grateful for this phenomenal opportunity where I may pursue a profession that I am extremely passionate about. You're allowing me to earn my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in May 2024. You have supported a Mexican American girl with a humble background, who will use this opportunity to blossom. I cannot emphasize my gratitude enough. You are allowing me to seek the professional level that I know I can accomplish.

John Lopez

Bobcat Donors, I would love to start off by saying how grateful I am to have been chosen for this award. My name is John Christopher Lopez III and am the grandchild of an alumnus of Southwest Texas State University. The reason I chose to call Texas State my school is all thanks to him. My grandfather has led by example and shown his family and community what it means to be a changed man. After years of service and two kids later he decided to leave the military, start school at Southwest Texas State University, work a full-time job, and be a father and husband. He graduated with his bachelor’s and became a very successful electrician. My grandfather has had the hardest life of anyone I know, and his perseverance is a reminder to me that no matter how hard it gets if my grandfather did it, I can too. I will follow in my grandfather’s steps and become an alum of Texas State. My goal is to graduate with a bachelor’s in environmental studies and geography resources and become an Environmental Consultant. My passion and my calling is to take on the issue of global warming and play as much of a part as I can in resolving this issue man has created and left for our generation to fix.

Leah Whittington

Bobcat Donors, Thank you for the supporting scholarships! I first began my college journey at Texas State in Fall of 2017. Ever since high school, I have always taken pride in my academic performance, and one of my goals was to keep that performance high. I knew that as a nursing major, classes were not going to be easy, especially since Texas State has one of the top nursing programs in Texas. In my second year of school, I applied to the St. David’s program and did not get accepted. I did not let it discourage me from continuing to pursue my goals. I made the decision to pick up a minor in psychology and reapply the next year. I am proud to say that I successfully completed that minor in psychology with a 4.0 for those classes. Currently, I am starting my third semester at the Texas State St. David’s School of Nursing at the Round Rock campus. I am a part of the 2022 class and will graduate in May. Soon I will be, Leah Whittington, RN, BSN. Expenses are high and this scholarship is such a helpful blessing to me and my family. I plan on working very hard to continue to do well in nursing school. This scholarship is going to greatly facilitate my journey toward becoming an RN.

Daniel Cabezas

Bobcat Donors, I can’t describe what I felt when I learned that I was chosen to receive a scholarship - I was overwhelmed with emotion. My family and I have endured a lot: from serious illness to loss of employment, to the family’s financial hardship that erased the savings I had for college. My father has always said that when one door closes, another opens. And so, it seems from the gloom, rays of sunshine emerged. The first ray was when I learned that I had been accepted into Texas State to study Computer Science. I was happy, I was also unclear and worried about how to pay for it. And then, the second ray appeared; you supported me through this scholarship. Your donation will be put to good use as it will help offset some of the tuition and living expenses. Thank you for honoring me with this scholarship. I will study and work hard to earn it and the trust that you have placed in me. I feel better about my future. It’s brighter thanks to your generosity. Thank you!

Thomasin Aleman

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude for the award of this scholarship.  I cannot begin to thank you enough.  This scholarship will be the saving grace as I move forward into the school year. I started my education at this school when it was Southwest Texas State.  I lost my mother to cancer and was unable to concentrate and finish my degree. I went home and ended up marrying and starting a family. Once I was settled in my family life, my education took a back burner. After 30-plus years, I can focus on finishing my education. I am now a senior and am majoring in Fine Arts with a focus in painting. I am so excited to be here and at 53 years old now have a chance at a new career in an area that I am very passionate about. I have also been looking into grad school with the thought of pursuing a masters to teach in the future. I want to prove to my daughter, family, and friends that age is not a limit to furthering your education and that one should not settle in a career in which they are unhappy. It is never too late to learn! I would not be able to fulfill this dream without the support of scholarships from generous donors such as yourself.  I hope to one day be able to do the same for future Bobcats. 

Nathalie Mead

Bobcat Donors, I want to express my gratitude for your generosity and time. I am originally from Germany. I am majoring in exercise and sports science with a concentration in pre-rehabilitation. I would like to enter the TXST Master’s program after graduation. I am a single mom of two wonderful boys and a transfer student from California. We moved to Texas both to leave an abusive relationship and the high cost of living. The second I stepped onto the Texas State campus I knew that it was where I wanted to be - I absolutely fell in love. My expected graduation date is May 2023, and my goal is to work at the college level as an Athletic Trainer. This scholarship was a make-or-break thing for me. My goal of giving my kids a better life seemed impossible, this scholarship is helping to make that possible, changing more than one life when I graduate.

Ben Segura

Bobcat Donors, I want to thank you for your generous scholarship contribution that is supporting my pursuit of a business degree. My name is Ben Segura and I've had a long journey that led me to Texas State. I began my college education in 2017 at the University of Houston where my mental and physical health deteriorated as the months went on. After 3 semesters in Houston, I lost my academic scholarship. Coming home, I worked myself to the bone, but my mental health continued to suffer until the spring of 2020. I began taking classes at ACC on the weekends while working full-time. In March of 2020, I was let go due to the Coronavirus lockdown. I used the money I had saved to go full-time to ACC online and then transfer to Texas State to complete my bachelor’s degree in accounting. Now with renewed purpose and with a fresh start in a new town, my goal is to graduate cum laude and seek a master’s degree right after. I've struggled and failed more times than I can count, but I have been able to persist through some of the most difficult challenges of my life because of the help of kind people like yourself. You have given me a chance to succeed and make opportunities for myself that would otherwise be impossible. Texas State is where I've decided I want to finish my degree and I am reminded every day that I made the right choice. Everyone I encounter is kind and thoughtful. I will do my best to rise to the occasion and be the best student I've ever been. I will not waste what you have given me, and I wish you good health and prosperity.

Laura Canales

I am truly grateful to have been selected as a scholarship recipient. I have chosen to pursue a career in Social Work and want to focus on helping America’s heroes. One of my biggest goals in life is to help the military population and their dependents. Being that I have been a military wife and my husband served in The United States Marine Corps for sixteen years, I am pursuing a career to help military individuals along with their families. My husband is a combat veteran who was injured in combat in Fallujah, Iraq. By the grace of God, he returned but was forced to medically retire early due to the physical injuries, a Traumatic Brain Injury, along with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At that point, I put my education on hold to be his primary caregiver. I believe just like they risk their lives to serve and protect this nation; I want to get my master’s in social work to help and advocate for what they truly deserve. I have chosen Texas State because we are a Bobcat family at heart. My eldest daughter is currently a student and a contracted cadet in the AFROTC. My mother is also a former faculty member who retired from Texas State University. I will forever be thankful for your generous gift and I am truly appreciative of your kindness and support as I continue at Texas State University.