Working hard and persisting during her high school journey paid dividends for Rome High senior Karly Nguyen. Nguyen was recently named Rome High School’s STAR Student for the Class of 2025.
“To be STAR student, honestly, it's not always about the test score. But it's always about the journey of getting there, meaning just hard work and persistence. Because sometimes it just feels like you want to give up and you don't want to keep studying,” Nguyen said. “It's so important to just keep going forward. That's how I did it.”
Nguyen is the daughter of Dung and Tein Ngyuen.
Nguyen has a 4.518 grade point average. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction, an AP Capstone Diploma Recipient, a National Merit Semifinalist, and earned The College Board’s National First Generation Recognition.
She has been on the Academic Honor Roll all four years and has earned the Georgia Certificate of Merit, the Freshman Wolf Award, has been named a Young Georgia Writers winner, a Laws of Life Essay winner, and a Governor's Honors nominee. She has taken 13 AP classes, one dual enrollment class, and completed two Fine Arts Pathways in Chorus and Visual Arts.
Along with her academic honors, Nguyen has been very active at Rome High School. She sings alto in the Rome High Chorale and has been named to the District Honor Choir. She is involved in the BEAR Club, Interact Club, 21st Century Leaders, National Honor Society, Junior Civitan Club, Psychology Club, and is a DECA member. She was also part of the robotics team.
Nguyen also has spent time volunteering at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and her parent’s nail salon.
Nguyen selected Seth Winstead as her STAR Teacher.
“I had Mr. Winstead in my junior year. He encourages his students and keeps them motivated. Not everybody's going to succeed at U.S. History. It's not an easy subject and to do well in his class and to do the AP class is obviously no easy walk in the park. But he stays with you every step of the way. He's always there to answer any questions you need and he's extremely passionate about what he does,” Nguyen said. “It was very clear for me to select him as my star teacher just from how amazing his teaching is.”
Nguyen plans to attend the University of Georgia where she has already been accepted into the school’s Double Dawgs Program. She plans to major in art and is still deciding what her second major will be.
“I’ve already applied to UGA, and I got my acceptance last year. I'm planning to enroll there and major in art and possibly also double major in another subject. I do want to participate in the Double Dawgs program,” she said. “Essentially, it's what they call their double major program. So basically, you'll get your first degree in the first four years, and then in the fifth year, you'll get your second.”
Nguyen said she wants to major in art for one of her majors, and then focus on how technology could affect creativity.
“I want to dive into how AI impacts creative spaces. So maybe doing some research or some activism in that aspect. But for now, I want to open up my waters and just see where it takes me,” she said.