San Jose Senior Named Posse Scholar
Michael Segura
Summit Tahoma’s Michael Segura will attend Boston University with a full scholarship
Michael Segura had his sights set on college since middle school. In fact, as an 8th grader, he researched high schools that would help him achieve his goal. Now, as a senior at Summit Tahoma, he has been named a Posse Scholar, a prestigious national award that grants him a full scholarship. This fall, Michael will attend Boston University, where he plans to explore pathways in the medical field. He will be the first in his family to attend a four-year university.
As a freshman, Michael described himself as being very shy. “I hated presenting, it’s a fear I had never conquered,” he said. Determined to set himself up for success, he decided high school could be a fresh start. “When I entered high school, I told myself I was going to be open to new things. I started exploring new opportunities my middle school didn’t offer, like student council. The community at Summit has been really important to me. The more I made friends and talked to them, the more I would talk. I built my confidence here.”
Four years later, Michael’s confidence and humility shines. Throughout high school, he has become an active volunteer in his community and an advocate for mental health. Through Summit’s unique Expeditions Experience, Michael was able to deepen his interest in addressing the health of his community by establishing an offsite internship with Safe Space, a youth-led, mental health-focused organization. “One of our main goals was to make mental health something people talk about,” Michael shared.
When it came time to apply to college, Michael found consistent support in Summit Tahoma’s administrators, teachers, and his mentor. When his assistant principal shared details about the Posse Scholarship, he decided to give it a shot, selecting Boston University as his first choice. “My mentor is Ms. Le; she’s honestly the best mentor ever. She helped me out with any questions throughout the whole process,” Michael said. “I asked her for help navigating the BU website and had her review my essay. Any questions I had she answered. She gave me motivation and believed in me.”
As Michael moved forward in each round of interviews with the Posse Foundation, he continued to surprise himself. In part, he credits his Expedition Experience. “One thing that really helped me out during my Posse process was my internship and how passionate I was about the medical field,” Michael said. “Boston University has a great internship program in the heart of Boston that gives you opportunities to work in the medical field. Every student has to do an internship. I thought that was interesting because it sounded like my Expeditions internship at Safe Space. In any other high school I don’t think I would have had this opportunity, it was so good for me to choose Tahoma.”
Michael’s advice to future seniors? “Be yourself, try and find something you like to do that makes you happy.”
Summit Tahoma High School is in San Jose, California. As part of Summit Public Schools, a leading public school system, Summit Tahoma prepares a diverse student population for success in a four-year college and to be thoughtful, contributing members of society. Learn more or enroll your student.
