The leadership of four Mount Carmel students has qualified them for a highly competitive scholarship.

The Posse Scholarship is a collegiate full tuition grant provided by the Posse Foundation and given to students who exemplify leadership. Thousands of students compete against each other to join an affiliated college, but few win the scholarship. There are three rounds of interviews in the application process. The first took place in August, and it involved group activities like debates and advertisement design. The second interview occurred in September, and the third will take place in December. Afterwards, the winner of the Posse Scholarship will be announced in January.

The four student finalists from MC include Jordan Whaley, Aiden Correa, Angelo Correa, and Julian Velazquez. Each finalist competes by showing leadership in their own way.

“They want people that are going to lead on campus,” Whaley said. “I’d say what makes me a leader is my willingness to participate and also my willingness to speak up.”

During his time at MC, Whaley has joined football, basketball, chess, peer leadership, and has become a candidate for the National Honors Society. During the second round interview, the Posse Foundation took note of his heavy focus on participation. 

“I kind of just wanted to branch out a little bit,” Whaley said. “I want to be a lawyer, so I found that out.”

This quality of leadership is also strongly exemplified through Aiden Correa’s involvement with the speech team.

“I kept the speech team alive,” Aiden said. “I got a coach when we didn’t have one, I started recruiting members, and it showed me how to talk to people because I never used to be that outspoken.”

Aiden learned that effective communication creates a strong leader. Utilizing what he learned, he managed his group in designing an advertisement. 

“I took action by making sure everyone’s ideas were heard, and that we gave everyone a role,” Aiden said. “I didn’t want people relying on just my idea.”

Another MC student who understands the value of communication is MC soccer’s Anchor Award-winner, Julian Velazquez.

“I make everyone’s voice heard, especially in soccer,” Velazquez said. “Let’s say things aren’t going our way. I’ll try to get the team’s opinion on what we need to do, not just one or two players.”

Velazquez believes that a strong leader is considerate of the opinions he receives. During the debate, he practiced this belief by engaging others for their opinions. 

“I was explaining to them in detail why I believe things,” Velazquez said. “As well as making sure other people were voicing their opinions, I knew that there were some quiet leaders there.”

Angelo Correa, Aidan’s twin brother, on the other hand, believes that presenting his own struggles shows leadership.

“In my first interview, I was vulnerable because I had to talk about the time I didn’t make the volleyball team,” Angelo said. “But failure isn’t a bad thing because It’s a stepping stone to success. I think it’s easier to succeed if you are vulnerable.”

Angelo’s brave vulnerability allowed him to present his honest opinion during the debate, making for engaging conversation.

“They wanted to see if we were good at arguments,” Angelo said. “I made sure to stay calm, and be honest about any of my opinions, even if people disagree with them.”

The time that these four students had at MC prepared them in a special way for the opportunity to become Posse scholars.

“You’ll see in the mission statements of all of these colleges that they want to bring in students that serve the community,” Dean of Student Services Kristina Luster said. “Caring for the people around them, caring for the community, and the institutions aligns with the Carmelite identity.”

This year, MC has incredibly strong candidates for the Posse Scholarship. Finalists are so strong this year because they each utilized their unique forms of leadership.

“Posse is one of my favorite scholarships,” Mrs. Luster said. “We’ve had great success with the Posse Scholarship, so I think that Posse knows the type of student that we have when it comes down to leadership.”