July, 2011
Olivia Villarreal
An Education is a Shared Power
Olivia's relationship with Chicago Scholars started during her junior year of high school, thanks to an encounter at a college far. Unlike most cases, however, it was her mother who had attended the fair, and who greeted Olivia after school with a heavy bag full of brochures. "She poured it on my desk and the Chicago Scholars brochure fell into my hands," she says. "I would have never known about Chicago Scholars if she had not taken the initiative to attend the college fair in my neighborhood." An outstanding student, Olivia was accepted into the program in 2006 and enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
During her second year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Olivia Villarreal realized that, although she had started college intending to become a nutritionist, perhaps her calling lay elsewhere. "Chemistry at a university level wasn't my strong suit," she recalls. "I pondered over and over what I would tell Chicago Scholars when I wanted to change my major to Creative Writing. Would they think I wasn't trying hard enough? Would they be disappointed?"
As it turned out, Olivia's nervousness about informing her mother and the program of her major change was needless. "Neither my mother nor Chicago Scholars was disappointed," she says. "Instead they said, ‘We support your dreams. This is your education.'"
For Olivia, the first in her family to attend college, this was meaningful encouragement. Her mother came from a family for whom college was not a priority, and, though she had taken vocational courses to find work as a secretary, standing up for her education made her the black sheep in the family. Despite her mother's enthusiasm for Olivia's education, the process of applying to schools and transitioning to college life was fraught with uncertainty and unexpected pressures. "Going away to college felt as if I was a child raising myself," she explains. "I felt very behind my first semester and I sometimes felt like I wasn't smart enough to be there." Having to cope with Type 1 diabetes, and weathering her mother's concerns about her health, didn't make things any easier while away in college.
Though she admirably rose to the challenges of so much new responsibility on her own, Olivia credits the support of both her mother and Chicago Scholars with easing the transition. "I felt I was totally on my own and my life was in my hands," she recalls, "but I was wrong because my family was only a phone call away and so was Chicago Scholars. Chicago Scholars was always looking out for me and checking up on me to see how my grades were doing."
As things began to turn around academically after the change in her major, she now considers it "...the best academic decision I made at U of I." Olivia began to take further advantage of the opportunities Chicago Scholars offered, pursuing summer internships at Jenner & Block and Chapman & Cutler in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and particiapating in a career mentoring program co-sponsored by Chicago United after that. She also started giving back to the program, serving as a Peer Mentor for three of her four years at U of I. "Once she realized the benefit of peer mentoring, she began to share general college information with me to distribute to other students in our program," recalls Carol Sharp, Student Programs Manager at Chicago Scholars. "She is definitely a leader."
Perhaps more importantly, she has also given back to the person who helped her start down this road: her mother, who is currently finishing a G.E.D. program with an eye toward a professional career. "My Mom told me I was her inspiration and motivation to get a higher education," she says.
Now, after having graduated with a major in Rhetoric and Creative Writing and a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies, Olivia is volunteering at the Moses Cheeks Slam Dunk for Diabetes Basketball Camp and working as an international affairs intern at the RKJ Legal law firm; she has also been giving free reign to her creative side, publishing her poetry online, painting, and modeling for Cover Chicago magazine. As for the future, she hopes to go to law school and specialize in public law and immigration, and plans to keep working with Chicago Scholars. "Attaining an education is a shared power that we must bring back to our community," she says. "As scholars we must become and grow as resources for ourselves, for our families, and for the people in our community."