Brooklyn Prospect High School senior Alexa Rodriguez has been named a Posse Scholar and will attend Vanderbilt University this fall on a full-tuition scholarship. A driven student with a passion for medicine and a deep sense of community, Alexa is the latest in a growing legacy of Brooklyn Prospect students to receive this prestigious award.
Her peers and teachers know Alexa as someone who shows up for her studies, her friends, and her future. An only child and first-generation U.S. college student with familial roots in Colombia and Mexico, she’s close with her family, including her dog, Bosco, who’s been by her side since middle school.
“I’m scared, but I do it anyway,” Alexa says of the challenges she’s taken on throughout her life, including studying abroad in Taiwan and navigating the intense Posse selection process.
“One thing I admire about Alexa is that she is everywhere and does everything, despite the obstacles she’s overcome throughout high school,” said her college counselor, Ms. Elnagar. “Alexa is a student I look at and know that I don’t have to worry about her future because her work ethic, confidence, and personality will take her very far in life.”
The Posse Foundation, founded in 1989, identifies, recruits, and trains student leaders from diverse backgrounds and places them in supportive, multicultural teams—Posses—to top colleges and universities across the country. Alexa was nominated by Ms. Elnagar and remembers receiving words of encouragement from past Brooklyn Prospect Posse recipients during the process, being the school’s fourth such recipient. Though she struggled with self-confidence, she believes staying true to herself made all the difference. “I didn’t think I’d make it through,” she shared. “But I think I got it because I acted like myself.”
Photos by: Christian Quiroz Orduna (Communications Intern, BPHS Class of 2025)
Alexa’s decision to attend Vanderbilt was influenced by fun personal and academically practical reasons. “My dad proudly wears a Vanderbilt hat every day now”, and the school’s colors, gold and black, happen to be some of her favorites. But more importantly, she was drawn to the vibrant campus life, academic rigor, and the tight-knit Posse community. She also learned during the process that Prospect Schools’ CEO, Tresha Ward, is a Vanderbilt Posse alum.
Alexa will major in Medicine, Health, and Society, and plans to attend medical school to expand upon her interests in neuroscience and reconstructive and plastic surgery, a path inspired by a desire to have women of color see more doctors who look and speak like them when in the exam room. Her IB extended essay focused on plastic surgery during World War I, having already gained hands-on experience through internships in the surgical wing at Mount Sinai, the neurology department at Columbia, and an emergency room at NYU Langone.
Outside of the classroom, Alexa has also made time to give back. She works as a respite care provider for a child with autism, supports local artists at school holiday fairs, and has been part of Generation Rise since ninth grade, a club led by BPHS college counselor Ms. Bostick, focused on supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds through the college process. Now a senior mentor, she’s helping fellow BPHS students navigate their journeys.
“Alexa is one of the most ambitious, intelligent friends I have, and she’s always striving to be better. She’s endlessly inspiring.” said classmate and close friend Zilpha Marks.
Looking ahead, Alexa is excited to join campus clubs and dive deep into her academic interests. She knows that being a part of Posse will offer a built-in community and network of support as she enters this new chapter. For now, she’s taking it all in with excitement, determination, and some end of the school year relief. “I know I’m going to miss home and all the support I’ve received from my teachers and counselors,” Alexa said, “but I’m ready to grow into the person I’ve been working so hard to become.”