Selvin Tobar, Wright College’s 2023 valedictorian, grew up on the North Side of Chicago and attended Von Steuben High School, where he discovered an interest in chemistry and engineering. It was there he found out that he could attend his first two years of college for free at City Colleges of Chicago through the Star Scholarship. Selvin followed the footsteps of his brother Erick, who also took advantage of the scholarship, and joined Wright College’s Engineering Pathways program.
“I saw that this pathway was an option that led to success,” Selvin said, referring to Erick’s journey.
During his time at Wright, Selvin was actively involved in various organizations and served as the president of the college’s chapter of the American Chemical Society. He was also a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Additionally, Selvin worked as a research assistant under Dr. Doris Espiritu, the dean of the Center of Excellence for Engineering and Computer Science, and was a chemistry, math, and physics tutor for the Engineering program.
Beyond his involvement in various organizations, Selvin says he was able to find a supportive community at Wright through the Engineering program’s unique cohort model.
“I met a lot of close friends and peers,” he said.
Selvin knew he wanted to attend a four-year university to obtain his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, but he needed to figure out how to pay for it. He applied for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, which provides up to $55,000 per year to community college students to help them transfer, and was one of only three students across the state to receive the award.
With the good news that he can attend college debt free, Selvin plans to transfer to the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign this fall. He hopes to apply his chemical engineering knowledge to enter the pharmaceutical industry and wants to give back to the city of Chicago once he’s a part of the workforce.