Smart Student Plus College Counseling Equals Full Tuition Scholarship
By Allison Rowe
With the help of a Henry Street Settlement college counselor, Mariel Arias, a 17-year-old senior at the Henry Street School for International Studies, will head off to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania next fall with a four-year full-tuition scholarship from the Posse Foundation. He is the first student at his school to receive the prestigious scholarship, which is worth over $100,000.
Mariel was nominated for the Posse scholarship – created to recognize talented students who might otherwise be overlooked – by Shohreh “Sho” Tolou, the Henry Street counselor working on-site at his school. (The Settlement provides full-time college counseling at the Lower East Side public high school which, despite its name, is not affiliated with Henry Street Settlement.)
Following his nomination, Mariel underwent several rounds of competitive interviews and was one of only six students selected to attend Dickenson. The Posse model sends small, diverse groups of student leaders to colleges together – as a posse – to support each other’s continued success in the program.
What’s especially impressive is that Mariel is excelling academically while working two part-time jobs – a total of 30 hours per week, and commuting each day to the Lower East Side from Brooklyn.
“I could not have gotten this scholarship without Sho’s help,” said Mariel. The on-site college counselor assisted him with paperwork, applications and letters of recommendation. She even found a way to contact his former teachers who had left the school.
Mariel, who also participated in Henry Street University (HSU), the Settlement’s summer college prep program, first met with representatives from Dickinson College during an HSU trip to Columbia University’s College Fair.
Mariel hopes to study business management, and return to New York to work in finance or real estate. He dreams of a life with financial stability for himself and his family. He is a twin, and the youngest of six children. Mariel believes his work ethic, along with his ability to pick up information very quickly, were among the reasons he was selected.
“From the moment I met Mariel, I was struck by his maturity, intelligence, motivation and the amount of responsibility he has taken for his own education,” said Sho. “He eagerly took advantage of every opportunity I presented –scholarships, college trips, workshops and more.
“He is well respected by his peers and teachers, and has leadership qualities; many of our younger students at the school look to him as an example,” said Sho.
While the Settlement has provided part-time college counseling services at the school in the past, this is the first year that full-time services have been offered.
