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Mia Jacobs, a native of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, will soon be a graduate of Kennedy-King College with a degree in early childhood education. The aspiring teacher then plans to transfer to a four-year university in Pennsylvania to continue her journey.
As she looks forward to her next steps, Mia recognizes that the road to graduation hasn’t been without obstacles. In fact, early on in her college career, she found herself sharing a device with her mother and using her phone to join her classes and complete schoolwork, which affected her ability to stay digitally connected.
“I didn’t have a computer at home. I was mostly doing my work on an iPad,” Mia said.
Upon browsing through City Colleges’ website, she came across the Learn to Own program, which offers eligible students the opportunity keep their loaner laptop free of charge if they complete two consecutive semesters. She decided to apply because sharing a device was holding her back from reaching her full potential in her classes. Mia now has her own device that she can use to stay on track with her classes.
“I knew I needed a way to do my coursework,” Mia said. “I wasn’t able to stay on campus every single day to do my homework, so [Learn to Own] was a great way for me to use a computer.”
As she looks forward to graduating, Mia’s hope is that more students take advantage of the Learn to Own program so that they can succeed just like she has.
Sarah Choy had already earned a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from the University of Minnesota before returning to the classroom as a City Colleges student. She decided to learn a trade skill in stenography—or short-hand writing—soon after graduation because she knew a master’s degree program would be too expensive for her budget.
Melissa Romualdo looks forward to graduating from Malcolm X’s Nursing program and going straight into the workforce to help patients in labor. One day, she hopes to return to the classroom to earn her bachelor’s degree in nursing.
South Sider Tina Castillo is a second-year student at Kennedy-King College who is working towards a degree in clinical psychology. As she looks forward to a career helping others, Tina admits that her own journey has had its share of challenges, too, including the stress of dealing with various financial burdens.
