Paso a paso, Enlace Chicago ayuda a jóvenes inmigrantes y a estudiantes que son los primeros en su familia en graduarse, a aplicar y triunfar en la universidad. Brian Cruz was only 12 when he came to Chicagos Little Village neighborhood from Mexico four years ago. He knew practically no English, but through hard work gained near-native fluency. Now hes a junior at World Language [Little Village Lawndale] High School and its time to start thinking about college, a path seldom traveled by people in his immigrant-rich neighborhood. So on a recent afternoon he was in his schools library, pondering how to write the personal essay hell need to include with his applications. Thats where Enlace came in. The Little Village-based nonprofit specializes in helping immigrant teens make it to college, and Fanny Diego Alvarez, the groups director of community schools, told Cruz and 10 of his classmates they should write about what they know. You guys need to be proud of who you are and what youve contributed to your school and your community, and what youre going to contribute to the school youre applying to, she said. Enlace is one of many programs that receive financial support from Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Foundation fund... Michael Rodriguez, the groups executive director, said only 4 percent of people in the neighborhood have bachelors degrees, a proportion far lower than the city average. Enlace is trying to change that by mentoring high schoolers on how to get into college and succeed. Many are first-generation immigrants, Rodriguez said. They havent necessarily built up the social capital to remain resilient to complete school. So what we wanted to do is focus on certain risk populations, get them in and follow up to make sure they stay there. Diego Alvarez said more than 100 teens from Farragut Career Academy and the Little Village Lawndale campus (which hosts World Language and three other high schools) take part in some aspect of the program. Enlace holds workshops for kids and their parents, organizes college fairs and accompanies students on campus visits. It hooks up about 80 kids with counselors for one-on-one sessions that offer help with everything from financial aid forms to test preparation to immigration services. Most will be the first in their families to graduate high school, Diego Alvarez said. They require individualized attention. Because many of them are undocumented, they dont qualify for typical financing. It requires a lot more work. Lucila Rivas knew she needed help her senior year at Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School, part of the Little Village Lawndale campus. She is in the country illegally and knew that her status meant she wouldnt be eligible for most scholarships. She got in touch with Quintiliano Rios, Enlaces postsecondary coordinator at the campus, and he helped her find scholarships that are open to those who arent legal U.S. residents. She said she ended up getting about $1,500 worth of financial aid, which helped pay her way at Chicagos Malcolm X College. I always wanted to go to a university, but because Im undocumented, I dont have financial help or anything, said Rivas, 18, who is studying nursing. This is a start. As long as you know what youre doing, you can just keep moving forward. Rios said that of the 40 kids he worked with last year, almost all went on to postsecondary education. Though some come back to get help informally, Rios said Enlace doesnt yet have a program to support students while theyre at college. But he added that the point of the high school program is to help teens learn how to conquer their educational challenges on their own. One of the main things I do is to help them become their own advocate, because from this point on, they will take care of their own school lives, he said. This way, the students know what to do. Even if Im not there, they know how to identify support systems and how to tap into those resources. Cruz, 16, is just getting started in the college process. Hes thinking about becoming a veterinarian or a teacher, and taking Alvarezs advice to heart. He said he was going to start working on an application essay about the difficulties he had learning English. I think (college) is going to be a big step forward, he said. I never imagined when I got here Id learn to speak English well, I never thought Id make it to this year. I thought I couldnt accomplish this, but here I am. Im going to need scholarships, and I know this program is going to help me a lot.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 22:45:01 +0000
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