Three Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students were selected as 2023 Coca-Cola Academic Team Scholars.  Rachel Vivian from the Harrison County Campus and Anna Valenzuela from the Jackson County Campus were named Gold Scholars.  Anna Taylor from the Harrison County Campus was named a Bronze Scholar.

Vivian of Gulfport is the Student Government Association (SGA) president.  She is co-president of Omicron Alpha, the campus Phi Theta Kappa chapter; the Public Relations and Communications officer for the Reflections Team; and a member of both the Campus Activities Board (CAB) and Honors College.  She is interested in pursuing her degree in Educational Leadership and wants to eventually work in higher education.

Valenzuela of Ocean Springs is president of the Pi Epsilon chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and vice president of Activities for the Hispanic American Club. She is also a member of the Honors College, the Excelerate in STEM program, the Reflections Team, SGA, CAB, and Archery Club.  She was also named a Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar in September. A mathematics major, she plans to become a high school math teacher.

Taylor of D’Iberville is a Collegiate Academy and Honor student and member of the MS-INBRE Biodmedical Research Program offered at MGCCC.  In February, she won second place at the Mississippi Honors Conference for her research “Dexamethasone and its effect on biofilm growth for Staphylococcus epidermidis RP62A.” She is also co-president of her campus Phi Theta Kappa chapter, co-chair of Connections for CELO, vice president of Sigma Kappa Delta, and a member of the msINBRE Biomedical Research Lab. She was the Golden Key Recipient for PTK and selected as Outstanding Freshman for Collegiate Academy. She is a biomedical sciences major.

Selection as a Coca-Cola Scholar was based on scores the students earned in the All-USA Academic Team competition, for which more than 2,400 applications were received this year. This program is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and is administered by Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.