Gabriel

Over and over again, City Colleges proved to be the best place for Gabriel to explore his interests and prepare for a tech career, all at a price he could afford. Now, just one year after graduating from high school, he has earned his associate degree in computer engineering and is gaining hands-on experience in a high-paying software engineer apprenticeship at JPMorgan Chase.

Gabriel was familiar with City Colleges even before graduating from Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in 2025 because he was dually enrolled. He worked hard in both his high school and college courses and earned the Star Scholarship. This would allow him to attend City Colleges tuition-free because of his strong GPA. Gabriel was also able to complete his associate degree in one year thanks to the credits he earned in dual enrollment and his Advanced Placement (AP) courses. He also participated in One Million Degrees, where he benefited from mentorship, regular check-ins, and opportunities to connect with other students.

Gabriel’s interest in technology sparked in high school after taking computer science and programming courses. An online software development course with Professor Kevin Truong at Truman College solidified that interest. The course introduced him to the fundamentals of software development and gave him a better understanding of how real applications are built. Through a semester-long group project developing a mock money-lending app, Gabriel gained hands-on experience with software engineering and began to see a future for himself in the field. After this class, and working with a City Colleges advisor, Gabriel switched to computer engineering to help him build a stronger foundation in math, physics, and other engineering subjects that would prepare him to transfer to a four-year university.

As Gabriel settled into his courses at Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College, he also discovered the value of getting involved beyond the classroom. While taking a C++ programming course at Wright, he met Professor Gustavo Alatta, who introduced him to opportunities to connect with other students and explore the college’s technology community. Gabriel joined the IT Club, which helped him build relationships and learn about opportunities to gain experience in his field. Through those connections, he learned about an apprenticeship at JPMorgan Chase and decided to apply.

“Professor Alatta made sure to talk to us about these opportunities and encourage us to apply,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel took full advantage of his college’s Career Center for interview prep. He found it helpful to participate in mock interviews and receive feedback before meeting with employers. This interview prep helped Gabriel land a software engineer apprenticeship at JPMorgan Chase. This role has challenged Gabriel to work with AI tools, solve real-world problems, maintain software, troubleshoot issues, and make improvements to existing systems. He works with programming languages and tools such as Java, SQL and Python, and is gaining experience with the same development, testing and review processes used by professional engineering teams. For Gabriel, the apprenticeship is an opportunity to keep learning while applying his skills to projects that matter.

“They’re basically paying you to learn,” he said.

After completing his apprenticeship, Gabriel hopes to secure a full-time position at JP Morgan Chase. He has also been accepted to DePaul University for the spring semester, where he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science. His advice to other City Colleges students is to get involved, connect with professors, and remain open to opportunities they might not discover by simply attending class.

“If you’re just going to class, that’s great,” he said. “But you’re really missing out on that opportunity to get more involved and find out what your interests are and try to seek out all these opportunities.”

Gabriel hopes his experience helps other students see the value of community college as a path to success.