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Posse Scholars Graduate With Help From Their Friends

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By Jessica Gould

D.C. high school senior Jerome Martin III has spent his life trying not to be a statistic.

"My family past...no one has ever made it this far. Most of them are incarcerated. I have a father that's incarcerated. I just want to become the opposite of what some people expect of me," he says.

So he's kept his grades up, juggled jobs and internships, and participated in an array of after-school activities. But there is one statistic that Martin is excited to be part of.

The Posse Foundation awards scholarships to groups of talented high school students, and then sends them to college together. Ninety percent go on to graduate.

"When you have someone there with you to help you get through things...it makes it easier. It takes the load off your shoulders," he says.

Martin is one of 62 D.C. area students to receive a full-tuition Posse scholarship. He plans to attend Pepperdine University in California next fall.

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