Published on Feb. 9, 2026
Each year, MSA faculty, RAs, and Directors choose a scholar who they believe fully embodies the spirit of the Academy to speak at the annual closing ceremony. For the 2025 Academy, Alex Sienica was honored as this scholar.
Before being nominated for the Academy in his hometown of St. Charles, Sienica had never heard of the Missouri Scholars Academy. But once he arrived, he could feel that MSA was truly something special. Being surrounded by like-minded peers and MSA staff who pushed, supported, and enriched his mind allowed him to learn more about himself and what he was capable of.
“It has truly changed my life for the better,” said Sienica.
Anyone who has experienced the genuine friendships formed, magical moments shared in Mark Twain and Geological Sciences, and all over the MSA campus understands this feeling.
To begin his speech, Sienica said, “One of the most important quotes, especially to me, during this year’s Academy, came from Albert Einstein. He said, ‘the measure of intelligence is the ability to change.’” From there he continued on with, “To me, MSA is not about our brains, how gifted, how smart we are, but how we are intrinsically as people . . . it’s about finding who you are, how to create long-lasting connections, how to find the genuine fun in learning, and especially how to adapt in different situations.”
Sienica gained many new experiences during his Major and Minor classes. He took Austin McWilliams’ “Whaaaaaaaat, That’s Not Music!” Major and Kristofferson Culmer’s “Blame it on the Algorithm…Exploring the world of AI and Data Science” Minor.
One of his favorite moments at the Academy was during his Major class where the students were performing different avant-garde pieces of music in Austin’s major. For one of the pieces, they were instructed by Austin to do whatever they wanted for 15 minutes, allowing them to express who they were and what they wanted to play.
“It ended up being some of the most entertaining and chaotic moments of my life.”
For Alex, another highlight of the Academy was learning Krav Maga from instructor, Eli Peake, where he got to further explore his interests and form friendships with others around him.
According to Alex, the freedom to be yourself and the opportunity to grow into that person is what makes the MSA space so unique, and he enjoyed soaking up every experience MSA had to offer in his new learning environment.
“The freedom of exploring the great MSA campus and not having quite a strict schedule as regular school has allowed us to experience what we wanted, how we wanted, in our own unique way. This academy genuinely embodies what a perfect school made for learners should be.”
After attending MSA, Alex went back to school to complete his junior year, taking full time classes at St. Charles Community College where he hopes to graduate high school with an associate’s degree.
We will leave you with Alex’s closing remark, where he inspired every new friend, faculty member, and now, you.
“At MSA we learn to be less afraid, more open, more kind. We arrive with giftedness and talent, and we’re leaving with the tools to further ourselves and our community. Let’s take the foundation that we built here, and the curiosity, adaptation, and collaboration that we’ve gathered along the way, and go out and build something extraordinary.”