The POSSE Experience

By Chance Bednorz

Earlier in 2016, during my junior year, I was invited to apply to the Posse Houston Foundation. For those of you who may not know what I'm talking about, Posse is an organization that is trying to increase the diversity in leadership positions in America through education. Posse is teamed up with top colleges all across the states, and every year they have thousands of applicants competing for a spot in a college's Posse - a group of ten students that have shown outstanding leadership, character, and are expected to do great things. On top of that, the Posse members also get a scholarship that covers the college tuition, so there are many reasons why one would want to partake in this program. This is my experience as a Posse applicant.

Firstly, I was invited to attend a lunch meeting during school and find out more about Posse. Afterward, I was nominated by Mrs. MacGregor - my dean - for the Posse program and filled out the Posse application over summer. During my senior year, my application was reviewed by the people at Posse and I moved on to the first-round interview. This was a group interview held in a large, open room. For several hours, we were separated into groups of equal sizes, asked to complete an activity that required teamwork, and then split up into different groups to repeat the same process with another group. All of the students had numbers on the front and the back of them, and the Posse faculty walked around, constantly taking notes as we worked.

I completed the first-round interview successfully. From there, I moved on to the second-round interview which was far more personal. They asked me to complete another application prior to my interview, and I was given a list of required materials: my transcript, SAT scores, a piece of recent writing, etc.- to bring in for them on the day of. The second interview took place in a quiet room at the Posse offices. I found out a couple of weeks after my interview that out of 1200 Houston applicants, I had become one of the 20 finalists for Colby College.

After achieving finalist status, I completed the Common Application before my assigned application review with Posse. On the day of my review, a Posse staff member looked over my application and helped me fine-tune everything to send off to Colby College. On December 1st, I had my finalist interview. Alongside me were the 19 other Posse finalists, Posse administrative staff, and Colby College representatives. Similar to the first interview, there were several group activities and both the Posse staff and the college reps were taking notes on what we did. The finalists were broken up into smaller groups where the Posse staff asked us questions about our home life, our interest in the school, what we do for our family, etc. At the end of the interview, we had a Q&A with the Colby College people and gathered together in a circle. We linked arms and said our final thoughts on the entire Posse process, paying each other compliments and giving each other thanks.

Overall, the process was engaging, exciting, and although I did not get into the Colby College Posse, I still am grateful for the experience and encouragement that Posse provided me. I know that with or without Posse, I will graduate college and be successful in anything I put my mind to.