Category: Healthcare
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Melissa Mende
When Melissa graduated high school in 1999 from Luther North College Prep, she wasn’t sure about her next step. She took a few classes at Wright College, which was close to home, but then started working as a dental assistant at an orthodontist office. It was thanks to that work experience that Melissa knew she…
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Mirela Velic
Mirela Velic completed the City Colleges of Chicago School of Nursing Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program at Malcolm X College in the summer of 2018. Her journey to get to this point was an eventful one—born in Bosnia, Mirela moved to Chicago’s Jefferson Park at age 3. The 27-year-old married mother of two now resides…
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Shamika White
Shamika White graduated from Hyde Park Academy in 2000 and shortly thereafter joined the U.S. Navy. Working for both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as a body guard for a chaplain, Shamika spent eight years serving her country. After being a frequent patient of the Navy’s dental clinic, Shamika felt a connection that she…
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Alisha Carter
Alisha Carter graduated from the Pharmacy Technology program at Malcolm X College in the summer of 2017. Since then, she has taken and passed the PTCB exam (board exam for pharmacy technicians) and is now working as a full-time certified pharmacy technician for Walgreen’s. She’s currently in training to be a lead technician at her…
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Beckie Cornelison
Beckie’s journey to City Colleges of Chicago was an eventful one. She grew up and completed most of her education in Indiana, including getting her bachelor’s degree at Butler University and her master’s degree at Indiana University. She then embarked on a career teaching music education in Chicago while raising a family; a part of…
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Dana McDonald
Dana McDonald has certainly had her fill of education—but she’s not done yet. The 38-year old started by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College in 2002. Her focus there was photography, but she found her career to be unfulfilling and, it was difficult to earn a stable living. She knew a change…
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Maria Zermeno
Maria had it all planned out – she would graduate from Cristo Rey High School, leave the Little Village neighborhood where she grew up, and get her bachelor’s degree in nursing at a four-year college. “School has always been a priority for me – my parents always told me that in life, they can take…
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Justin Tan
Justin Tan graduated in Spring 2018 with an AAS in Dental Hygiene, but that’s just part of his story. The oldest of three boys and a lifelong resident of Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood, the 25 year old was raised by a single mother and dropped out of Walter Payton College Prep midway through high school. From…
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Bryn Horton
Bryn Horton has taken his challenges, converted them into inspiration, and made them the fuel with which he serves others. Bryn lost his sight to gun violence in 2013. His painstaking recovery required 15 surgeries in less than a year. Physical therapy lasted long after that. Bryn has taken his experience and used it to…
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Anna Lisa Russell
Starting classes at Wright was a pretty easy choice for Anna Lisa Russell: “It’s 5 minutes from my house. I am single mom, working full-time – it worked well with my schedule.” She started taking classes part-time when she was 26, then a year later went to full-time – while she was working full-time as…