Serena Chen Swanland Memorial Scholarship

 Serena Chen Swanland was a Kadena High School graduate who attended Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.  On May 14 2009, she was killed in a car accident.  This scholarship was created in remembrance of Serena’s life and should go to a student who embodies the spirit in which Serena and pursued her Academic Career.

Attached is a biography and a high school resume to give a sense of who Serena was.

Biography- As Written by Shiou-Yen Chen and Larissa Swanland, loving mother and sister.

Serena was born in Yokoska, Naval Base, Tokyo Japan on 10/26/1989.  Her family went back to the States when she was a year old.  She spent four years in San Marcos, Texas.  She attended a private school as a kindergartner when she was five years old.   In the summer 1995, she became a  first grade DoDDS student when her mother accepted a teaching position in Lakenheath ES in Lakenheath England.  From Lakenheath ES, she moved up to Liberty Intermediate School, and then Lakenheath Middle School.  When her mother transferred to the school district in Okinawa, Japan, Serena enrolled in Kadena High School in the summer of 2003 as a 9^th grade student and graduated from KDHS in 2007.  In the fall of 2007 she became one of the students at Texas A &M university where she first was a general studies major, then a chemical engineering major.  As a child, Serena had always enjoyed sports (such as ballet, gymnastics, swimming, horseback riding, basketball, tennis, etc.).  She especially loved traveling, reading, and taking pictures. As a student she was always hard working and took pride in excelling everything  she tried to do. She was extremely active in both her high school and College.  When she was at Kadena High School, besides maintaining good academic standing, she also participated many afterschool activities and programs.   In both high school and College Serena was active with the school newspapers.  At Texas A&M she was participated in many activities that emphasized the traditions of the University.  Serena had planned to apply for medical school when she completed her undergraduate degree.  Unfortunately, a fatal accident on May 14, 2009 ended that dream and her life. 

Serena is remembered as having an upbeat, unassuming attitude always trying to make a positive impact on those around her. Serena lived by the philosophy that friends are the family in which you choose for yourself and nothing was more important to her than family. Most of all, Serena was an optimist, enjoying life and finding an opportunity to laugh.  In honor of Serena’s memory, her mother and her older sister, who is also a Texas A & M graduate, are offering one, to  three receipients depending on available contributions to high school  seniors at Kadena High School or Kubasaki High School.