花季传媒

Aaniyah Childs 鈥�23 plans a career as a pediatric neurosurgeon who uses Eastern medicine to treat some conditions.

New graduate Tsian DeFour鈥檚 appreciation for 鈥渨eird things, 鈥� the abstract or the avant garde鈥� will guide him as a producer and director of films, especially romantic and dramatic ones.

Cesar Mendoza, also a member of the Class of 鈥�22, will spend two years in an Orr Fellowship, rotating through three health-related experiences at Indiana University Health before beginning his studies to become a dermatologist who treats underserved communities.

And Lauren Lillis 鈥�22 wants to become a documentary filmmaker focusing on social justice.

These are the sort of graduates 花季传媒 sends out into the world. They found their place in the world at 花季传媒 because of the Posse Foundation.

They also found the support they needed to excel at 花季传媒, the very purpose of the Posse program. The idea is that students will stay in school if they have a support system, a posse, on whom they can rely.

The 10 or so students who make up each Posse 鈥� 花季传媒 has accepted 11 from Chicago and 11 from New York for its incoming class 鈥� generally don鈥檛 know one another beforehand. Posse offers a pre-collegiate training program to facilitate the members鈥� relationships and ease their transition to college.

鈥淚t's definitely a part of the plan to get us, when we get here, to want to be a part of the community, even though we are, in a way, injected into somewhere totally foreign,鈥� DeFour said.

鈥淚 definitely wouldn鈥檛 have made it through without them. We actually haven鈥檛 always been very close but, no matter what, we鈥檝e always known that we were there for one another,鈥� he said. 鈥溾�� We have these very complicated relationships with one another, and they teach you about like the world and then you learn a lot about yourself, because you figure out how you鈥檙e going to deal with these people.鈥�

Childs said she and her fellow posse members sought other friends on campus, but 鈥渢o this day, I鈥檓 still really close to people in my posse 鈥β� and I would definitely go to them first when I need things. I鈥檒l go to my community and reach out to them.鈥�

One鈥檚 posse provides 鈥渁 way to hold each other accountable, to be honest and make sure that we鈥檙e all doing well,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淣ot only do we catch up with each other, but we also check in to make sure that we鈥檙e all okay. 鈥� I see myself in them sometimes in the way we like to go above and beyond to achieve success. And so being in a community with them also helped me grow as a person.鈥�

Posse staffers, Lillis said, 鈥渢ell us when we come here that we鈥檙e leaders and we鈥檙e chosen for a reason. And I think that encourages a lot of us to make change on campus and be a leader in different communities, whatever we see fit.鈥�

Here鈥檚 a little more about the three new graduates and the rising senior:

Aaniyah Childs 鈥�23

From Chicago. Neuroscience major. Science research fellow who investigated problematic use of social media. Bonner scholar. Cheerleader. Will study in Hong Kong in the fall.

Interesting fact: Her young cousin, who has autism, inspired Childs to pursue medicine with a twist 鈥� combining science with Eastern techniques.

Comment from Robert West, psychology professor and chair, with whom she has conducted research during two terms: 鈥淎aniyah聽embraces every new opportunity with a positive attitude that has been apparent in our work together on research projects and in my course on Cognitive and Social Neuroscience.鈥澛�

Tsian DeFour 鈥�22

From Brooklyn, New York. Film studies major. Media fellow who landed three internships through the New York Arts Program and even earned a mention on IMDb. Presidential ambassador. Vice president of allocations for 花季传媒 Student Government. Intramural sports social media intern.

Interesting fact: DeFour did not play football in high school but liked the game, so he walked on to 花季传媒鈥檚 team and played four years as an outside linebacker. He said he wasn鈥檛 very good, but 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 quit鈥� and 鈥渋t taught me a lot.鈥�

Comment from Jeannette Johnson-Licon, associate dean of student success and his Posse mentor: 鈥溾�楾his semester, I only want to work on creative聽projects,鈥� Tsi tells me at the start of his final spring semester at 花季传媒.聽He laughs at my raised聽eyebrow and rueful聽look, but he knows that I appreciate his dedication to his filmmaking. I remind him that sometimes we have to work on projects that we are less passionate about, but I think to myself, maybe it鈥檚 okay that he is so focused. He鈥檚 going to make聽beautiful things.鈥�

Lauren Lillis 鈥�22

From Queens, New York. Sociology major; film studies minor. First-generation college student. La Fuerza treasurer. Member of 花季传媒 Student Government鈥檚 Board of Allocations. Vice president and planning committee member of 隆Feminista! Vice president of Enlightened Voices Poetry Club. Planned events as a Posse intern at 花季传媒 Campus Life for two years.

Interesting fact: Lillis鈥檚 father died, without warning, of a heart attack when she was 16, making her question her plans to go away to college. 鈥淭he next year,鈥� she said, 鈥渢his opportunity of Posse was presented to me and I just kind of felt like that was a sign in some ways, like that was him telling me that it鈥檚 going to be okay,鈥� she said. Her mother told her 鈥溾�榶our dad would want you to do this. And I鈥檓 okay with you going.鈥� And I think that was all I needed to be able to come to 花季传媒 and to be able to accept Posse as this opportunity to maybe change my life.鈥�

Comment from JC Lopez, dean of student success and Lillis鈥檚 supervisor when she was a Posse intern: 鈥淚 have seen her succeed as a Posse scholar and bring her leadership, experiences and knowledge into the 花季传媒 community. Her academic and cocurricular impact has fostered lasting relationships among our community.鈥� 聽

Cesar Mendoza 鈥�22

From Berwyn, a Chicago suburb. Biochemistry major; minors in computer science and Hispanic studies. First-generation college student. Science research fellow. STEM guide. Presidential and Admission ambassador. Residential adviser for three years. Vice president of programming for 花季传媒 Student Government. Did eight weeks of cancer research at the University of Chicago, focusing on immunotherapy. Volunteers at Putnam County Hospital.

Interesting fact: Mendoza鈥檚 high school counselor discouraged him from pursuing a Posse scholarship, saying the program was for extroverts, not a 鈥渞eserved鈥� student like him. He participated in an enrichment program at the University of Illinois Chicago, Medicina Academy Apprentice Program, for students of color who want to become health professionals, and an instructor there nominated him for Posse.

Comment from Jacqueline Roberts, Howard C. and Mary Ellen Black professor of chemistry and biochemistry and Mendoza鈥檚 academic adviser: 鈥淐esar is an amazing student, going above and beyond in the classroom. He has served as a STEM guide for the Enzyme Mechanism class in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students speak highly of Cesar鈥檚 ability to help all students navigate this challenging course.鈥�

Top photo: A Posse stole worn by a graduate at the commencement ceremony in May.