Tuition. The most dreaded aspect of entering the new world of college. Infamously known to be extremely expensive, tuition is inevitably a big factor, at times the deciding factor, for college decisions. In order to relieve this burden of tuition, multiple organizations nationwide provide scholarship opportunities. One of them is the Posse Scholarship, a four-year scholarship from the Posse Foundation, a program where high school students from 20+ cities across the United States are recognized for their academic achievements and potential as future leaders that may have been overlooked by traditional college processes.
This year, MCPS has 16 recipients from 12 high schools, one recipient being WJ senior Loic Nsoga-Mahob. Nsoga-Mahob has been nationally recognized for earning a full-tuition scholarship and will be attending Bucknell University with the class of 2028.
Nsoga-Mahob is a student who has been taking rigorous courses for the past four years, always up for a challenge and a chance to push himself. Some of his classes include AP Statistics, Physics C: Mechanics, Calculus AB and Human Geography. In addition to bearing these tough classes, Nsoga-Mahob has other extracurriculars and after-school activities to keep him quite busy. He has been a part of the boy’s varsity soccer team all four years in high school and involves himself in other clubs. Amongst his friends, Nsoga-Mahob is known to be very diligent and dedicated to his studies, an admirable trait seen by his peers. Senior Daniel Ribeiro has been a long-standing friend of Nsoga-Mahob and is glad that his talents and hard work are being recognized.
“Loic is a great friend, he’s always there for me and he’s academically gifted, ready for whatever challenge comes his way. I really look forward to seeing him doing well at Bucknell,” Ribeiro said.
Counselor Hawa Magona nominated Nsoga-Mahob for the scholarship and informed him around August knowing that he was exactly what the Posse organization was looking for.
“I nominated Loic and other students who I felt fell into the requirements for the scholarship. Loic was one who came to mind because I knew about his background and the type of student he is so it seemed fitting to give him this really nice opportunity,” Magona said.
Excited to commit to the process of obtaining financial help, Nsoga-Mahob worked hard and endlessly to achieve his goal. Posse candidates go through a three-part assessment process that includes large-group and individual interviews, assessing the leadership and teamwork skills rather than the academic performance.
“The process was really long and rigorous because there were two group interviews and a one-on-one interview, which all took place between August and December,” Nsoga-Mahob said.
Finally, after a long wait, Nsoga-Mahob got the good news that he passed the multiple rounds of interviews and was chosen as a Posse scholar. He and other MCPS students who were awarded the scholarships were honored at a ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at the Lincoln Theatre. The scholarship covers the four-year cost of out-of-state tuition at Bucknell University, in total being about $300,000, a big relief for Nsoga-Mahob and his family.
“I was really excited because there were a lot of qualified candidates and it was really cool that I got chosen. My family was extremely proud, they even seemed more excited than I was based on their reactions,” Nsoga-Mahob said.