Ann Marie Nguyen, a senior at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, is among the 20 high school seniors selected to this year’s esteemed Arkansas Times Academic All-Star team. Chosen from nearly 150 applicants across the state, the latest roster showcases some of Arkansas’ most exemplary members from the Class of 2025. 

Nguyen is an AP Scholar with Distinction and an AP Capstone Diploma candidate enrolled in six AP courses at MSM this year. She serves as president of the school’s Robotics Club and is a member of the Catholic High School band. She earned 17th chair clarinet in the 2025 Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-State Concert Band. Additionally, she was named a National Merit Commended Student this past fall.

She plans to study astrophysics in college and become a researcher in the field. 

A Mount St. Mary Academy senior in Little Rock has achieved All-State recognition in band, a significant honor for student musicians in Arkansas. Ann Marie Nguyen, who practices and performs with the Catholic High School band, earned 17th chair clarinet in the 2025 Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-State Concert Band. In addition to being part of Catholic High’s band, Nguyen has also been playing with the Arkansas Youth Symphony since she was in eighth grade. As part of this year’s All-State Band, she spent Feb. 20-22 in Hot Springs at the All-State Music Conference. She participated in intense rehearsals alongside the state’s other top musicians, directed by some of the country’s most prestigious directors. The event concluded with a public concert at the Hot Springs Convention Center, showcasing the music the students learned and their talent.

Ann Marie Nguyen, a senior at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, has been named a Commended Student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. She joined approximately 34,000 high-performing students throughout the nation who received the distinction. Although they will not continue in the 2025 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered this year’s competition by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).