It Was All Met For Something
I chose to attend DePaul University for a very unique reason. I have been very fortunate in regard to my education. Since the age of three, I have been in Catholic school and highly value service. As I reflect back on my education, I have always been taught to look out for others and how vital helping your community is.
Growing up on the South Side of Chicago my commitment to service started at a very young age. I have always been encouraged to take an active part in my community and utilize my education to help others. I attended an all-girls Catholic high school located just outside of Chicago that closed when I was a sophomore. I ended up graduating from the brother school located right next door. High school was an odd experience for me to say the least.
When I was a junior, a woman named Dr. Donna Kiel introduced me to the Vincentian Mission and brought me to DePaul for the first time. I ended up receiving a micro-credential in leadership from the College of Education and could see myself coming here for college. As a current senior in college, I am very happy to stay this program is still running and I have an active part in it. I currently lead tours for grammar schools located on the South and West Sides of Chicago. A full-circle experience to say the least!
Looking back, receiving this award is where my DePaul journey began and I am extremely blessed to introduce kids to it today. Every time I do something for this program, I ask the kids one thing, to use their micro-credential in leadership to make their communities better and to never forget where they came from.
Starting college, it was very hard for me to be in a large environment where I didn’t know anyone. I soon began to make friends within the Pathway Honors Program and in my Undergraduate Admissions EDGE (Education and Development Grant for Employability) team. I was doing homework one day when I got a message from my freshman Orientation Leader (OL) asking if I was interested in being one for the summer. I wasn’t sure about it but decided to apply anyway after some encouragement from my EDGE staff professional. I ended up getting the job and was happy to get more involved in the DePaul community. I began to find my footing until the pandemic broke out halfway through my freshman year.
It was hard to be separated from all of my friends and to navigate the unknown known as COVID-19. However, I found community on Zoom by connecting with my fellow OLs. Looking back, I am so extremely thankful that I took the risk and applied. I ended up being an OL for two summers and loved doing it. During my second summer (going into my junior year), we started doing in-person programs and it furthered my connection to the Vincentian mission. During a Mission and Ministry overview, I heard the St. Vincent DePaul cloak story. It was about how he wore the same cloak no matter who he met (rich or poor). I took this story to heart, as it serves as a reminder to treat everyone with respect. I continued to be involved in the DePaul community through different opportunities, allowing me to further see the mission through different contexts. As a tour guide, I learned Vincentian hospitality and personalism. As an Arnold Mitchem Fellow and McNair Scholar, I learned about systemic change. Something that would greatly shape my research interests and life goals.
Going on the Vincentian Heritage Tour was an interesting experience, and I learned a lot about myself. The DePaul France Visit had to have been my favorite part of the trip. I enjoyed getting to learn about the amazing work that is being done to help the unhoused in France. It demonstrated that the Vincentian mission is still very much alive and highlighted the great people doing it. More importantly, it showed humility and how we can help people that are often overlooked or neglected by society as a whole. This gave me something to reflect upon as I had a big decision to make about my future and the next steps after graduation in June.
I have always felt an unexplainable calling to help in any situation and always had trouble articulating why. As I step back and reflect on my life, I think that everything I have been through (the good and the bad) has happened to me for a reason. Every person I have met has shaped me and altered my outlook. I am very proud of how far I have come and realized that I have always been asking myself “What must be done?”
I finally somewhat have an answer to that question and have made decisions regarding my future plans. I am very excited to say that I will be getting my master’s in nursing at The University of Illinois Chicago, proving that you can’t take the girl out of Chicago. I just started a new job as a Community Engagement Assistant for the Institute for Population and Precision Health located in the Biological Science Division at The University of Chicago. My education and life experiences have always prepared me to help where I am needed most, home, the South Side of Chicago. I want to study social detriments of health and increase community safety by examining redlined neighborhoods, housing insecurity, food deserts, access to green space, educational attainment, and how to aid in economic development without gentrification. I want to tackle health equity head-on while helping establish youth outreach programs and better employment opportunities through policy development. This is how I will answer the question of “What must be done” because everything I’m not, made me everything I am.
