Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Antoinette Hicks
Antoinette Hicks had been out of the classroom for 30 years before deciding to reignite her educational journey at Olive-Harvey College. She had previously attended two years of college at DePaul University but put her studies on hold to start a family. Antoinette’s decision to enroll at Olive-Harvey was strategic—she wanted to find a caring,…
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Cate Huguelet
Cate Huguelet, Kennedy-King College’s 2023 salutatorian, had already earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees before deciding to return to school and enroll at the Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute. She had been working as a freelance writer since 2012, covering food and travel for publications like Chicago Magazine, Lonely Planet, New York Magazine, and The…
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Dr. Quintin Williams
Dr. Quintin Williams’ lives by a simple motto: everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. In 2006, he was living in a work release center because he had just been released from prison. One of the requirements to live there was to get a job or go to school. Dr. Williams did both.…
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Olga Sanchez
Olga Sanchez, Daley College’s 2023 salutatorian, grew up in a bilingual household, where Spanish was her first language. Because she moved to the U.S. from Mexico at six months old, Olga wasn’t sure how she would pay for college as an undocumented student. Her teachers at Curie Metro High School told her about the Star…
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Esmeralda Cirilo
Esmeralda Cirilo, Harold Washington College’s 2023 salutatorian, grew up in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and attended Community Links High School. As the daughter of two hardworking immigrants, she took their values of determination and resilience to heart and dedicated herself to excelling in school. She graduated in 2020 as her high school’s valedictorian. Esmeralda then…
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Liam Smith
Liam John Smith, Wright College’s 2023 salutatorian, was born in Ukraine and joined his parents in Chicago about 10 years ago. He became a Chicago Public Schools student and attended Taft High School, where he learned about the Star Scholarship. Liam decided to take advantage of the scholarship, and he started his college journey at…
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Selina Badu
Selina Badu, Truman College’s 2023 salutatorian, was born and raised in Ghana, where she attended high school and served as a caretaker for her grandmother. That experience introduced Selina to the healthcare field and motivated her to pursue an education and future career in nursing. She came to Chicago in 2019 and started her college…
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Angel Negron
Angel Negron, a recent Harold Washington College graduate, is getting ready to transfer to Columbia College Chicago to pursue a bachelor’s degree in interior architecture. As he prepares for the transition, one thing he won’t have to prepare for is the financial burden of his education. Angel was recently awarded Columbia’s Chicagoland Transfer Award (CTA),…
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Veronica Sek
The first few weeks at a job are challenging—you’re adjusting to a new role, new coworkers, and a new company culture. On top of that, Malcolm X College Senior Director of Health Sciences Veronica Sek’s first day fell on the day the State of Illinois enacted a stay-at-home order due to COVID-19. She had no…
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Chef Gabriel Alvarez
Chef Gabriel Alvarez started his college journey at City Colleges of Chicago—something that helps him relate to his students at Kennedy-King College’s Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute. “I get to welcome students in that I see a little of me in them,” he said. Chef Alvarez didn’t know what he wanted to do when he…
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