Tobi Alawode, a senior at HPHS, was one of them. "At first I really wasn't confident I would get it, but then I got so much encouragement from my CDI advisors that I began to think that maybe I really could!" CDI advisors worked closely with 15 other students who were finalists for the highly selective scholarship, which is awarded by the Posse Foundation to 6,264 high school seniors across the country to attend the college of their choice. Awardees are selected through a unique group model based on the philosophy that students succeed in college when they have the support of their peers, or posse.
The scholarship could not have come at a better time for Tobi and her family. "My parents come from Nigeria and they work hard to afford college for me and my siblings. They are already paying for my brother's tuition, and sometimes it gets overwhelming. So when I got the Posse Scholarship we were all so excited and relieved. It will open up so many doors for me. I've always been fascinated with childbirth and pregnancy and with helping others, so I want to go on to medical school to be an OBGYN." Tobi will be headed to the University of Wisconsin at Madison this fall where she plans on pursuing a pre-medical track.