Congratulations to Matt Nguyen, for being selected as Posse Scholar!

Matt Nguyen (middle) celebrates his achievement
with AALEAD as Posse Scholar.

Matt has been involved in AALEAD programs for over 10 years, particulary the Mentoring Program. Throughout these years, we have observed his persistence, hard work, and positive attitude. From all of us at AALEAD, we are proud of you, Matt! We know you will go on to do good things!

Here are Matt's own words on the Posse Scholarship and how AALEAD prepared him for this experience:

"My name is Matt Nguyen and also known as Nam. I’m 18 years old, in the 12^th grade at McKinley Technology HS.

I have been in AALEAD for about 12 years now. I have always been in the mentoring program; I was paired with 4 mentors in the 12 years. I was in the after-school and summer program for many years. It guided me through childhood and rocky teenage years to this point-my acceptance as a Posse Scholar at Lafayette College.

The Posse Foundation provides leadership and merit based scholarship to exceptional students of urban areas who has the potential to success in highly selective colleges/Universities. The foundation supports all its scholars with pre-collegiate training, 4 year full tuition scholarship, mentorship, and etc .

What I loved about Posse was that it provides so much support which I think is critical to my success in college and life. Posse was my number one college option. I had to endure an intricate selection process. The first round was a large group interview. For the first round, I had to work in a group to built things, talk in groups to share ideas and opinions, create a skit and etc. I thought it was a really weird interview and it caught me off guard because I was excepting to talk front of some interviewers and talk them why I should be a posse scholar. Later, I did do the traditional interview in the second round. I was confident answering the questions asked which included, how am I a leader, which major I would pursuit in college, etc. In the third and last round I was engaged in an interactive group interview. The staffs of Lafayette College were there to observe and meet me and the other candidates. Posse DC has six possible colleges/ Universities to attend with the scholarship. They are Sewanee: The University of the South, Wisconsin-Madison, Grinnell College, Bucknell University, Pepperdine University, and Lafayette College. I was so pleased to gotten paired with Lafayette because it was a small liberal art school and close to home. I was notified about my acceptance in Lafayette and as a posse scholar the night of the interview December 16^TH. I was so happy.

AALEAD prepared me to be a Posse Scholar. I was assisted in my academic work by all my mentors. I gained valuable communication skills and the willingness to work in groups at AALEAD. I had several chances to testify in the city council on behalf of AALEAD which helped me on my communication skills. I was involved in projects such as a car wash fundraiser in which I took a leadership role. I got SAT practice at AALEAD. As a kid, the idea to attend college was instilled in my mind. I believe I got this idea mainly because of AALEAD. I believe the guidance and nurturing I received at AALEAD made me who I am and afforded me the privilege to be a posse scholar.

I am currently doing pre-colligate training with my posse before we transition into our freshmen year at Lafayette College. I can’t wait to experience college life."

- Matt Nguyen

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