Posse Scholarship winner, senior Andre Tulloch is now a semi-finalist in the prestigious Gates Scholarship. Winning would award him a full ride to a school’s undergraduate program of his choice.

The Gates Scholarship is a foundation that selects 300 candidates every year from hundreds of thousands of candidates. The program so far has given out 3,000 scholarships to minorities who have excellent academic, leadership and personal success skills.

“I am beyond excited, this opportunity is huge for me and my family,” Tulloch said. “I will miss Watkins though, I really like the diversity here. I hope that where I go will also be really diverse.”

Tulloch will be interviewed in March by the selection committee. The winners will be announced in April. Winning would mean Tulloch not only has his tuition paid for, but all fees, housing costs, books and any other expenses for any university in the country.

“Andre is an extraordinary student and is academically exceptional,” Minority Scholar Program sponsor Rachel Pope said. “He is a silent leader [and] he’s pretty much in everything. You see him in the office and he’s working, you see him all around the school he’s working, and I feel like most people don’t realize that.”

Tulloch participates in multiple clubs and extracurricular, including Minority Scholars Program, Student Government Association, County Student Government, National Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society Science National Honor Society and much more.

“All of the clubs and organization I participate in are just things my interests brought me to,” Tulloch said. “I didn’t enter high school with the idea of joining all of these clubs. It just happened and I’m happy for it.”

Minority Scholar Program sponsor Joye Saxon said, “I think Andre without a doubt deserves it… He is a leader in [Minority Scholars Program]. He did a summer internship with the Learn About Leadership Development Program. I’ve known him since he did his Middle Years Programme project and he truly deserves to be a winner.”

“I’d like to thank my mom, my best friend Taylor, and most of my teachers,” Tulloch added.