Eduardo Perez was determined to earn his bachelor’s degree after graduating from high school, but financial constraints prohibited him from heading directly to a four-year university. To save money, he enrolled at Wright College, where he identified a passion for computers and earned credits that would later transfer to Illinois Tech. Today, Eduardo has more...

Stephanie Hawkins-Guevara Deciding to return to school in 2013, after graduating high school in 1986, was a dream deferred. As a child, I envisioned myself working in a hospital as a nurse. I would be the first-generation female college graduate in my family. However, the lack of understanding of mathematical equations increased my fear of...

After graduating from Chicago Vocational Academy in 2009, Burnham neighborhood resident Antoinnette Smith spent some time figuring out her next step. She took classes at Daley College and had jobs in warehouses and a distribution center. While she originally thought about studying medicine, it turns out that the best fit for her is what many...

Originally from Torreón, Coahuila, Mèxico, Laura Ocon came to Chicago more than 30 years ago. A wife and mother of three children, she found it challenging to get important healthcare information in her native Spanish. After starting school, her daughter increasingly served as the family translator. Ocon promised herself that as soon she had time, she...

Jacori Garrett started his college career early as a student at Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. As part of the Early College program, Jacori was taking college level classes and earning college credit as a high school student. Once he graduated from high school in 2017, he headed to a four-year university in Wisconsin. But...