Category: Early College
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Mariela Gallegos
Mariela Gallegos has completed the basic nursing assistant (BNA) certificate at Malcolm X College, she’s a certified nursing assistant (CNA), and she already has a number of college courses and credits under her belt. On top of all that, she also just graduated high school. Mariela was able to find early success through the Early…
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Vincent Smith
Vincent Smith is celebrating two big life moments this summer: receiving his high school diploma and earning his first college degree. The senior at Corliss STEM High School is the first student from his school to earn an associate degree from City Colleges of Chicago prior to high school graduation. Conveniently, Olive-Harvey College is only…
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Cesilia Aguilar
Twenty-year-old Cesilia Aguilar’s path to Wilbur Wright College and her future career wasn’t always so certain. But becoming a student at Wright has helped her decide on a future she thinks will be fulfilling, will inspire her siblings, and will support her entire family. Cesilia began college at a four-year university in Illinois, but she…
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Florencia Laino
Being undocumented has always played a big role in who I am. But it’s also been my biggest challenge in pursuing higher education. At least that’s what I thought before. I came to Chicago from Uruguay when I was almost a year old and grew up sharing a one-bedroom apartment with my family in Albany…
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Raven Jones
Raven Jones is well on her way to her college degree – and she is just graduating from Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy this spring. This summer, the Marquette Park resident finished up the last two classes she needs to earn an associate degree from Daley College before she heads to Eastern Illinois University in…
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Tia Wilson
Tia Wilson has always wanted to be a nurse. Now, the Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy High School senior is a big step closer. In addition to the 44 college credit hours she earned while still in high school, Tia also has her first post-secondary credential: Community Health Care Worker, Basic Certificate. While she worked…
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Erica and Anjelize Camacho
For Angelize and Erica Camacho, Malcolm X College’s Basic Nursing Assistant pinning ceremony was a moment to remember. The mother-daughter duo celebrated the end of 2021 by walking across the stage one after another, cheered on by a crowd of siblings, parents, and other loved ones in the audience. “I was thinking to myself, ‘wow,…
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Jacori Garrett
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…
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Jonathan Macedo
He’s an 18-year-old restaurant owner that sells flowers on the side; a high school senior with nearly 13 college credits under his belt and a substantial scholarship to DePaul University. It sounds like there’s little that Jonathan Macedo can’t do. But despite his success, the Lindblom Math and Science Academy student has maintained his humility.…
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Alan Huerta
As the youngest of four brothers, it is no surprise that Alan Huerta was looking ahead to how to pay for college earlier than many of his peers. Now, Alan is graduating not only from Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy with his high school diploma, but also from Daley College with his Associate in Computer…