Love of community is at the core of $25,000 scholarships awarded to two students from Patagonia Union High School. Brianna Majalca, a graduating PUHS senior, and Brianna (Young) Hubbell, a 2021 graduate, have been selected to receive the Michael R. Snyder Living Trust Scholarship.
The scholarship was established by Snyder, a Sonoita resident who passed away in 2025.
The twin scholarships are a unique offering this year.
“Michael lived over 20 years here, and he just loved the people and area. He wanted to give back to the community because it meant so much to him,” said Gary Cooper, trustee of Snyder’s fund.
The trust provided support for various community organizations as well as $50,000 for two scholarships to support local students enrolled in college who needed financial help.
To qualify for the awards, applicants had to be enrolled in or accepted to a college and show their involvement in and willingness to give back to the community.
Five students submitted essays about their backgrounds, needs and qualifications, said PUHS Vice Principal Michael Young. PUHS governing board members selected the winners.
Studying physiology and medical science at the University of Arizona will help 2026 PUHS graduate Brianna Majalca pursue a career as either a nurse or a dentist.
Brianna Majalca, daughter of Griselda Majalca, has shown her dedication to the community through her involvement as president of the PUHS chapter of the National Honor Society, vice president of the student council, and star athlete on the volleyball and basketball teams. In addition, she works at a local food stand to pay for a college math class she is taking online.
Majalca will be attending the University of Arizona next year.
”I’m going to major in physiology and medical science,” she said. “I want a degree that can lead me in different directions. I’m not set on exactly what I want to do. I either want to become an RN or a dentist one day, so I want a degree that can help me on both roads.”
She already has a head start, having earned around 60 credits through online classes and dual-credit classes offered at PUHS.
Majalca explained what a huge difference the Snyder Scholarship has made in her life. “I am so, so, so grateful. It’s thanks to the scholarship basically (that) I have everything set for a couple of years,” she said, adding that she plans to live at home and commute to school to save housing costs.
Majalca can imagine herself coming back to the Patagonia area, where she sees many needs. “Like here at the clinic, they need doctors and providers,” she said. “One of my little dream things is like opening a little clinic here, like a food truck to help with costs. Medical care is so expensive.”
Brianna Hubbell, daughter of Michael and Tami Young, graduated as salutatorian in 2021 with a 4.1 GPA. While at Patagonia, she participated in Future Farmers of America, serving as president and receiving statewide honors. She enrolled in the University of Arizona during her senior year of high school and earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science in May 2024.
Hubbell married a high school classmate John Hubbell, in 2024. She is in her first year at the UA College of Veterinary Medicine in Oro Valley and expects to complete her doctor of veterinary medicine in August 2028.
“I am committed to returning to the Patagonia/Sonoita area after graduation to practice veterinary medicine and serve our local community,” Hubbell said. “I already have a spot in Patagonia where I can open a vet clinic.”
“I am extremely grateful to Michael R. Snyder Living Trust successors, including Mr. Gary Cooper, Mrs. Beckie Cooper and Mrs. Debbie Pruitt, for helping my inspirations come true,” she said.
Both scholarship winners have deep roots in the area with great-grandparents working in the mines and living at Washington Camp in the 1900s.
The Coopers expressed their appreciation to the PUHS staff, particularly Young, for helping them fulfill Snyder’s wishes. “We know Michael would approve of the selection of these fine young people from our community,” Cooper added. “He wanted to pay it forward.”