Congratulations to Gavin Johnson, who will be attending Texas A&M this fall on a full scholarship through the Posse Program, which believes “the key to a promising future for the United States rests in the ability of strong leaders from diverse backgrounds to develop consensus solutions to complex social problems.” Posse was founded in 1989 and is based on the premise that students are more likely to succeed on college campuses if they have a group of fellow students they know before coming to campus with them. When Gavin begins his studies at Texas A&M in the fall, he will be joined by nine other Posse students from the Atlanta area. Gavin said of his Posse group: “Meeting them for the first time we clicked. I feel like it’s going to be really cool to have people I already know on campus.” Gavin chose Texas A&M over a group of colleges and said his top two choices within the Posse program were Texas A&M and College of Wooster. Gavin said he chose Texas A&M because of its size and its reputation as a top-10 engineering school. He is still trying to decide his major but is considering Civil Engineering, Urban Planning or Landscape Architecture. One of the reasons Gavin said he thinks he was selected for the Posse Scholarship is because “I can be a leader without taking the shine off everyone else. I feel like being a leader essentially boils down to people feeling comfortable to talk to you without you taking over the conversation.”

He credits Walker with preparing him for leadership because in sports, clubs or in-class group assignments, students are given independence to “figure it out on our own while still having the safety net of teachers.” 

“Walker has taught me from a young age how to analyze situations, how to correctly approach them and how to resolve things,” Gavin said. He said he also has learned a lot during his job at Chick-fil-A.

As part of the Posse Program, Gavin and his peers are participating in the organization’s Pre-Collegiate Training, which lasts throughout the summer. They will learn about team building, cross-cultural communication, leadership and becoming an active agent of change on campus and academic excellence.

Gavin began at Walker in second grade. He went to public middle school because “I didn’t see a lot of people like me” but returned to Walker for high school because “it has an education that I clicked better with.” 

When Gavin returned to Walker, he said he was surprised by how diverse Walker had become.

“It was actually really cool to see. I was really glad about that,” he said. “And while I do think there is always room for improvement, I’m very happy with how Walker has turned out.”

Gavin said he is grateful to his teachers, his peers, his parents and his sister (Kendal, ’27), whom he is very proud of.

“Her drive is insane,” he said. “Seeing this little girl grow up to see who she is today is really crazy.”

Asked why he would suggest Walker to other prospective families, Gavin said the sense of community: “Walker shows a togetherness that can’t be replicated easily at another school.”