Category: Center of Excellence
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Ryan Magsayo
After spending six years as a combat medic with the U.S. Navy, Ryan Magsayo knew it would be hard to adjust to his life back to civilian life, especially life as a college student. He had been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in service, working on the front lines to treat…
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Anthony Huerta
Anthony Huerta has already locked down a job at Amazon headquarters in Seattle – and he hasn’t even earned his bachelor’s degree yet. Anthony had been interested in computer science while he was in high school, but it was his Spanish teacher who told him about the Engineering Pathway to the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign…
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Hussain Gilani
Hussain Gilani, an aspiring engineer, wanted to get his start in the field without racking up student debt. When he heard about Wright College’s Engineering Pathways program, he knew it would be a great fit. Even better, due to his good grades as a Chicago Public Schools student, he found out he would be able…
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Brian Lee
Brian Lee has big plans for the future, and Daley College is helping him prepare to achieve them. Prior to enrolling at Daley, Brian’s parents told him to go to school or go to work. He decided to go to work. That decision left him available to accompany his sister on a college visit while…
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Leonard Warren, Jr.
A sign to return to school can show up in many different forms. For Malcolm X College student Leonard Warren, Jr., it showed up in the form of a billboard. As he was driving for Uber one day, Leonard saw a billboard for City Colleges of Chicago, which was the push he needed to head…
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Elvis Dankwah
Attending Malcolm X College is a family tradition for Elvis Dankwah—one he takes so seriously, he traveled from his home country of Ghana to Chicago in 2019 to enroll at the college. “My family over here, everyone went to Malcolm X,” he said. “I just had to follow the same track.” A Malcolm X College…
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Dr. Megan Craig
Dr. Megan Craig was a practicing dentist before finding her way to City Colleges. She started at Kennedy-King College and then moved to Malcolm X College to work in the Dental Hygiene Clinic as the supervising dentist. That’s when a full-time teaching position opened up, and, having gotten to know many of the students in…
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Ashley Moncrief
Mother. Business owner. First-generation college student. And now, PepsiCo Foundation S.M.I.L.E scholar. City Colleges of Chicago alumna Ashley Moncrief has persevered to get to where she is today, and she’s not done yet. Ashley first became a City Colleges student while she was still in high school. Through the Early College Dual Enrollment program, she…
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Tomika Bernstein and James Robinson
Tomika Bernstein and James Robinson are starting new careers in the transportation, logistics, and distribution field thanks, in large part, to the Project Evolve scholarship program exclusive to Olive-Harvey College students. Tomika is benefiting from the knowledge and skills she is learning in supply chain and logistics management; she credits the welcoming staff at Olive-Harvey for…
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Rafael Gamboa
Originally from Venezuela, Rafael Gamboa has wanted to live in Chicago since he was 12 years old. He streamed the WGN-TV channel on his television and spent years dreaming of a life in the city. As he grew up, he also developed an interest in mechatronics, a branch of engineering that combines electronics and mechanical…