Senior Olivier Payen won the Posse Foundation’s four-year full tuition scholarship to study chemical engineering at the University of Rochester.
The Posse Foundation is dedicated to helping talented students from any background get into colleges and developing them into future leaders. Payen is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme student, co-captain of the boys’ tennis team, and runs a photography account that takes shots of our Wolverine teams.
IB analysis and statistics calculus teacher Aaron Weiner taught Payen as a junior and now as a senior. “Oli’s personality makes him a logical candidate for this particular scholarship,” Weiner said. “He is outgoing and generous with his time and energy, and thus a Posse Scholarship makes a lot of sense for him, especially considering his strong academic results.”
Junior Danica Leila Perez said, “It’s pretty inspiring since [he] came from this school and because the course that [he] picked was a pretty difficult course.”
To meet the requirements for a posse scholarship, you must be in your senior year of high school and in your first term of senior year, be nominated by your high school or a community-based organization, demonstrate leadership in your school, community, or family, and display academic potential. Certainly, Payen fits into that description!
“I was very excited to hear that Olivier Payen, a student at Watkins Mill High School, received the Posse Scholarship. College is an important endeavor for many, but it can also be a financial burden. Thus, by obtaining this scholarship, Oliver will have the opportunity to attend a major institution without having to worry about the financial side of things after college,” said IB application statistics and calculus teacher Melissa Ashby.
If you meet all the requirements, there are three interviews and one application review. The first interview will be a group interview, and the second will be a personal interview between you and two representatives of the Posse Foundation. Then, you are paired with your partner school to complete the early decision application. The third interview will be a group interview with other students who chose the same partner school as you. Then, they’ll pick 10 students to be in a posse.
“Olivier will be a strong asset to the Posse community because of his warm demeanor and willingness to help others. I hope that other Watkins Mill students will be encouraged to apply for this scholarship as well,” said Ashby.
Payen said, “I was extremely happy and proud of myself that I was able to get such a competitive scholarship and was relieved that all of my hard work paid off.”
It is also important to note that Julien Payen, an older brother to Payen and a former WMHS student, also got the Posse scholarship last year to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These brothers’ successes are one to be proud of.
