For high school seniors, springtime brings more than showers and flowers — it brings college acceptance (or denial) letters. While many students anxiously await fat envelopes or fear the arrival of thin ones, there are some, like northwest Bronx resident Adolfo Abreu, who are already celebrating and plotting out future plans to put their education to work.

Abreu, who is on pace to graduate in June from the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, which last year boasted a graduation rate of 92 percent, was ecstatic when he found out in February that he had a received a full ride, with a group dynamic twist, to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

“It was just an incredible feeling,” he says.

In recognition of his outstanding leadership skill and academic potential, Abreu was the recipient of a Posse Scholarship, which is awarded to a group, or “posse,” of students who will all attend the same college. The scholarship was created in 1989 in response to many college dropouts who claimed they had no real friends or support system at their college.

Next fall, Abreu will be attending school with nine other scholarship recipients from other urban neighborhoods. This spring and summer they will meet one another and participate in workshops, enabling them to form bonds of friendship before they even get to campus.

“I’m really looking forward to going to college with a group of people I already know,” Abreu says.

It is unclear exactly who nominated Abreu for the scholarship, but whoever did was obviously a big fan. And rightfully so.
Raised by a single mother, the precocious 18-year-old blossomed into a leader with Sistas and Brothas United (SBU), the youth activism arm of a grassroots organizing outfit with deep community ties, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

Abreu, who first came to the SBU for tutoring when he was 12, said the organization’s commitment to social change inspired him. Since joining the Coalition, most of his work has focused on education reform. Recently, he fought for student Metrocard funding. He also helps teach students how to advocate for resources in their schools. Two years ago, as 16-year-old, he led a rally to stop the Kingsbridge Armory from turning into a shopping mall.

Count Laura Vazquez, co-director of the Coalition, as a firm Abreu supporter. “What makes Adolfo a strong leader is his passion and his dedication,” Vasquez says. “He’s the type of person who is involved in everything.”

Abreu, who is president of SBU, a youth trainer, and an executive board member for the Coalition, is also a mentor and role model, Vasquez says. “He helps young people develop leadership skills,” she says, “so that when he leaves, there will be people to follow in his footsteps.”
Abreu said he is excited about getting involved with leadership programs at Trinity and specifically wants to address the issue of campus diversity, which the Posse Foundation aims to improve.

Posse was thrust into the spotlight last year when President Obama donated a portion of his Nobel Peace Prize award money to the foundation. “The students that are selected…end up graduating from selective colleges with a very high success rate. This shows the validity of using less-recognized skills as indicators of likely educational success,” Obama told The Chronicle of Higher Education, referring to the scholarship’s focus on selecting students who show strong leadership skills above all.

Abreu has Obama-like aspirations. He plans to study politics and when he’s done with school, he says, “I want to come back and change a lot.”

He admires Malcom X’s work in pushing for social change and (later) unity, but Abreu says his mother, Felicia Infante, is his real role model. “She is a true inspiration,” he says, explaining how hard she worked to support and raise him singlehandedly.

Aside from politics, Abreu wants to hone his listening skills in college. “Our whole life, we don’t listen,” Abreu says. “We never take the time to know where the other person is coming from. I want to learn to listen better.”