Category: Wright College
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Andres Gerena
Andres Gerena came to Wright College after graduating from Lane Tech High School and earning the Star Scholarship. He is a part of the college’s guaranteed admissions Engineering Pathways program. At Wright, Andres was involved with multiple organizations and became President of the National Society of Black Engineers—Wright College Chapter. He was a tutor in…
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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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Diego Ramirez
One of the most challenging things about being undocumented is the uncertainty. For me, that challenge was magnified when I started thinking about college. I was born in Mexico, and I came to the United States with my family when I was three years old. I grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood and lived…
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Geovanni Celaya
While eating dinner with his family, Wright College alumnus Geovanni Celaya saw an email notification from TheDream.US scholarship pop up on his phone. It wasn’t the first time he had applied for the award, which supports both high school and community college students that are undocumented as they look to pursue a bachelor’s degree. He…
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Trevin Cox
35-year-old Trevin Cox and his partner were thinking about buying a restaurant and bar before the COVID-19 pandemic changed their plans. Instead, Trevin was laid off from his job in the service industry due to the virus—twice. After the second time in September 2020, he was motivated to go back to school, though he had…
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Frank Sochacki
Frank Sochacki was familiar with City Colleges of Chicago even before he began classes at Malcolm X College. He started taking prerequisite courses at Wright College in 1998 to pursue nursing and advance his medical career, but a change in his employment status put that dream on hold. In the meantime, he made a transition…
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Maria Delgado
My college journey began back in 1994 when I enrolled at Wilbur Wright College. At the time, I was a full-time student and my mother’s caregiver. She was 39 years old and had experienced heart failure since she was 18. I wanted to be a psychologist, so I managed to care for her and go…
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Elia López
This story was originally published as a City Colleges news blog titled “Truman College Professor Receives AATSP Outstanding Community College Teacher of the Year Award” on April 12, 2022. Surprisingly, this year’s American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Outstanding Community College Teacher of the Year Elia López didn’t set out to…
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Yeisha Betancourt-Ruiz
I have always been enthusiastic about learning, and planned to attend college straight out of high school. However, due to challenges, insecurities and self-fabricated inhibitions, those plans were not carried out as expected. I eventually entered the workforce, believing that I would have the resources and soon make time to continue my plans towards earning…
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Aaron Zabrinas
Aaron Zabrinas is well on his way to his goal of becoming a lawyer that advocates for vulnerable populations. After graduating from high school in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and trying out some classes at a local community college, Aaron decided he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and wasn’t ready for college.…