Spring 2024

Amalia Benenati: Posse Scholar

By Colette Walsh

In June of 2023, Ms. Shepperd nominated high achieving students at CHAMPS for a Posse Scholarship. This is a full tuition scholarship to one of Posse’s partner colleges or universities, due to their extraordinary leadership potential. I interviewed one of these nominees, and the only CHAMPS nominee to receive a Posse Scholarship, Amalia Benenati.

Benenati explained, “I had never heard of an opportunity like that before, I was definitely all in. It's a good experience, and I believed in myself. And I thought that if Ms. Shepperd believed in me, I could do it”. 

The process of becoming a Posse Scholar is quite rigorous. “There are three interview stages.” she describes, “the first stage is a big group of students. They assign you collaboration exercises, and pick the people that stood out to them. From there, the participants in the second round go to a one-on-one interview, and rank their favorite colleges that are in collaboration with Posse. The interviewers then decide if they are a good fit for the schools they ranked, and get to know more about them in general. After that, the participants that move on are matched to a college, along with 19 other students. 10 of them are then picked to be Posse Scholars.”

Amalia had a different idea of how the college admissions process would go until Posse came about. “I was convinced I wanted to go to a music school or be in New York. Those were my two main wants. As the process evolved, and as Posse evolved, I started to realize that those environments probably wouldn't be the best fit for me.” She explained to me that she has a vast range of interests, and feels that going to a music school would only limit her. “Posse definitely opened my eyes to different types of schools and different things that I wouldn’t otherwise look for in a school, or that I may not have seen before.”

Although the process ended successfully for Amalia Benenati, the road there was not easy, she had to earn her scholarship. “One of the hardest parts of the process was the self-doubt it brings you. You don't know if you've moved on to the next stage until a couple weeks to a month after. So there is a lot of self-doubt, a lot of comparing myself to the other participants. However, I ultimately learned a lot about myself, and what I want for my future. Knowing that there is a pool of kids out there that have similar interests or passions to mine, helped me find the sense of community within Posse.”

Benenati’s gratitude for this experience and everything that Posse has done for her is evident. She wrapped up her thoughts by saying, “I think Posse is one of the coolest organizations I've ever heard about.” She explained that Posse cultivates a group of leaders that may have been skimmed over in the college process, but because of recognition from a teacher or counselor who has seen their leadership first hand, they are offered this uniquely amazing experience. “Posse’s dedication to finding kids that have the ability to make an impact in the future, and giving them this direct contact with resources that can help them actually fulfill that impact is incredibly uplifting. It gives you a sense of confidence knowing you are going to have people supporting you throughout your entire life, even after college. So I am just grateful that I have the opportunity to be a part of it.” 🐾