Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

Chicago Center Vlog: First Voice First Listen

After her Chicago Internship Program: Cameron’s Apprentice Highlight

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college. More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program. It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center. This month Cameron Siefkes, Recruitment and Campus Relations Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:

“Rolling into the city with my mother and step-father in the front seat and all of my stuff piled up around me felt quite different the second time around. The sight of the skyline and thinking about my mommy leaving me all alone in this huge metropolis didn’t make me feel physically ill like when I was a student. Instead, it brought back the excitement, all of the fond memories I had from the two months I had spent in Chicago the year before, and reminded me of the change I had experienced within myself. I was back in the city I fell in love with and was ready to see the next way the Chicago Center would have an impact on my life.

It has been about eight months since that long drive from Kansas. Now I’m sitting next to my fearless leader – i.e. my supervisor – Mr. Lane Chesebro, in the Education Department at Coe College. We’re here recruiting the future students of Chicago Center. Being the Recruitment and Campus Relations Coordinator for the Center has not only brought me to this campus in Iowa, but also to places in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and of course, the great state of Kansas. I’ve also been fortunate to have a hand in all of the other recruitment trips we’ve sent staff members on and have become quite the negotiator on Priceline by bidding on hotel rooms like nobody’s business. I’ve been learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be successful in this aspect of our organization. It has been like getting a backstage look at one of my favorite shows in the theatre. You can’t have a show without all that goes on behind the scenes, and we certainly couldn’t have the Chicago Center without our students.

My professors from Southwestern College would be proud to see me utilizing the skills I learned from my communication courses. No matter how many times I got up in front of my peers, I would get nervous. Now, it feels like second nature to present to these students on each campus. Of course, there are always going to be the ones who roll their eyes at you when you begin to speak about coming to live, learn, and work in Chicago. For me, the rewarding part comes when you see that one student who gets a little sparkle in his/her eye when we explain the program. We can speak to hundreds of students on one campus, but the real excitement comes when we receive those one or two applications in the mail. It’s amazing to know that the words I spoke were possibly a small part of helping that student see that he or she belongs in our program.

Each presentation reminds me of my own experience as a student in the Summer of 2009. As with most students, the initial draw of the program for me was the internship. However, the seminar and being exposed to the faces, neighborhoods, and problems in Chicago were what really affected me the most. My naivety quickly reared its ugly head, and I realized that most of my understanding of the world had come from one perspective. In Chicago, I received the perspective of voices I had never heard or taken the time to listen to before. Exposure to people from all types of backgrounds helped changed the way I viewed the world and the perceptions I had of the people in it.

My time here as an apprentice has only been a continuation of that learning process and my growth as an individual. Every day when I go into work, I feel blessed to have been chosen to have this experience with the other four apprentices. These people have been a part of one of the most significant parts of my life and moving on will be difficult. I am thankful for the opportunity, for the new friends, and the further enrichment of my life. I feel more confident every day, more aware of what I am capable of, and more proud of who I am. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am a different person after this experience. Instead, I say that Chicago and the Center have helped me become the person I was always supposed to be.”

We’d like to thank Cameron for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

After her Chicago Internship Program: Jessica’s Apprentice Highlight

Jessica Junke, Academic Program Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Jessica Junke, Academic Program Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:

“I received the email inviting me to apply for an apprentice position with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture on Tuesday, February 23rd.  It was a typical Northwest rainy day, but it was a day of celebration for me.  I had just spent the past six months not only finishing my undergraduate degree, but also working 60 plus hours a week to pay for the many consequences that came from an incredibly irresponsible decision I had made the previous summer.  But, I was finally done.  That Tuesday, with the words of my peers and counselors still echoing in my ear from a different sort of graduation, I opened an email that ended up marking the beginning of a hopeful, new chapter in my life.

I knew immediately that I wanted to apply for an apprenticeship.  The last time I had been in Chicago I was a student with the Center and I had never quite gotten the city out of my head.  Leaving her was extremely hard.  She had taught me more about myself in those three short months than an entire lifetime had before and saying goodbye to Chicago was like being ripped away from someone you had only just realized you loved.  It seemed like I had just arrived to the windy city when my dear friend Emily, a student teacher while I was an academic student, drove me to the airport at the end of the semester to go home.  As I hugged her goodbye, I told her that I wasn’t ready to leave.

I recognize now that I wasn’t permanently saying goodbye to Chicago.  I was simply returning home to finish out that chapter of my life.  A chapter that was really important for me to experience fully and see through to the end.  The two years I spent back in the Northwest allowed me to return to Chicago willing to completely give myself back to the city that I had grown to love so much through the Center.

The most exciting aspect of our jobs as Chicago Center apprentices is that we get to re-live our own personal discoveries that we had as students through the current students’ experiences.  We’re all continually witnessing how the students are growing by not only learning copious amounts about the city itself, but perhaps more importantly, about themselves.  I am speaking to who they understand themselves to be in the world they live in.  I’m sure that students often end up leaving more confused about that understanding than when they come to us, but to me, that signals that we have done our jobs right.  I am still processing things I witnessed and conversations I had years after my time as a student had ended.  The Chicago Center made my world a lot more complicated than it was before, and that may be the biggest compliment that I can give to an educational institute.

The most important skill that I learned as a student was to listen.  The Center introduced me to voices in the city that I would have never otherwise had the opportunity to hear.  Without those narratives, I would have continued living my life only knowing my own version of the world.  With close to 3 million people living in Chicago, how can any one of us claim to know what is going on with the people we huddle up against at the bus stop if we never stop to actually listen to what they have to say?  Too often, we rely on the so-called experts to tell us how to think and feel about things like immigration, racism, and the LGBT community (to name only a few).  While reading those perspectives has an undeniably important place in education, I would argue it is as equally important to actually engage in a dialogue with those who are living through those issues first hand.  Utilizing first voice is simply an incredible tool that not enough people have the opportunity to learn from.

As the Long Program Coordinator, I am currently in the process of finishing up my first semester-long program.  During wrap-up this past Friday afternoon, I told all of the students how appreciative I was of them.  They did not realize coming in to this, but they were the first big lesson we all had as new apprentices.  We learned how to manage large groups of students in the city, improvise when adequate class planning did not suffice, parallel park a 15-passenger van, and we were constantly reminded why we fought to return to the Chicago Center.  That’s what being an apprentice has been for me, coming back to finish out my CCULC chapter.  A chapter that countless other people also hold dear to their hearts, as evidenced by our incredibly successful 40th anniversary celebration.

I can only hope that in another 8 months when I have to say goodbye to the Center for perhaps the final time, that I will be ready.  That is my goal.  I have a daunting amount of learning, living, and experiencing to do between now and then.  However, I am extremely fortunate, as I have one of the coolest jobs in the world to transition from my college self into adulthood.  I am the Long Program Coordinator for the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture.”

We’d like to thank Jessica for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

After his Chicago Internship Program: Ben’s Apprentice Highlight

Ben Cook, Housing Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Ben Cook, Housing Coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:

“My name is Ben Cook and I am the new Housing Coordinator at Chicago Center.  One of the great things about studying at Chicago Center is the group living arrangement at our new Boulevard building, here in Hyde Park.  Students experience firsthand life in a diverse, urban environment while they participate in academic internships, student teaching programs or social work practicums.  My job is to be a group living resource and support for students, to help ensure that every student gets the most out of his or her time spent living in Chicago.

I came to Chicago Center in the Fall of 2009 in part because I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and to experience life in a big city.  More importantly, I came because I studied Sociology at my university and I found it fascinating, but abstract – it was disconnected from my experience.  My semester at Chicago Center was the most important part of my college education because it gave life to those academic concepts and ideas which I found so interesting.  It’s one thing to read about gentrification; it’s something very different to meet a community organizer who is actively trying to protect thier neighborhood’s way of life.  It’s one thing to study how immigration law affects immigrants; it’s something very different to have conversations with friends and family of undocumented workers who live in constant fear of deportation.  For a whole semester, I regularly met people who are on the front lines, fighting misunderstanding and intolerance.  The best part: Chicago Center watered nothing down.

But Chicago Center had a profound impact on me for another reason as well.  It introduced me to Renee, the amazing, beautiful woman who would become my wife.  Renee came to Chicago to participate in the student teaching program.  She and I hit it off right away during the intense week of orientation activities.  We love to reminisce about our first memories together – all of them at Chicago Center events: the Latin American Music Festival, the Chicago Architecture Tour, Barrel of Monkeys… Renee had an incredibly rewarding experience student teaching choir at two schools in Chicago Public Schools during her semester here.  It’s safe to say that we are both very appreciative of Chicago Center.  After my year as an apprentice, we hope to stay involved as alumni and friends of the Center.”

We’d like to thank Ben for telling us about his experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

Farewell, Apprentices!

Today marks the last day of work for our 2009-2010 apprentices! After completing a year long contract with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture, Amy VanBecelaere, Emilie Lewandowski, Kevin Zabel, Michelle Bess, Steve Broadwell, and Whitney Voss will be moving on to the next chapter in their lives.

2009-2010 Apprentices (Not Pictured: Amy Vanbecelaere)

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have recently graduated college.  More than a job, it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center.

Michelle Bess, LearnChicago! Coordinator reflects on her experience: “Being the LearnChicago!  Coordinator has been the most phenomenal job!  I have learned so much about the city, life, and most importantly myself.  It’s not often that one can find a place of work that encourages you to grow and learn, pushes your boundaries, and inspires you to make a difference.  The Center does such amazing work; it was an honor to be on staff.” Following her apprenticeship, Michelle will remain in Chicago working as the Assistant to the Director at the Chicago Posse Foundation, a leadership scholarship program for public high school students. Learn more at http://www.possefoundation.org/about-posse/

Steve Broadwell, Recruitment Coordinator plans to move back to Oberlin and spend time thinking about graduate school.  Steve shares, “I’m proud of the infinitely talented students I’ve seen come through the Center this year, and it’s been a pleasure to be a part of their experiences.”

Marketing Coordinator Emilie Lewandowski says, “Working at the Chicago Center has been a really great experience for me. I have learned so much, and grown tremendously as a person. I have really enjoyed being a part of the Chicago Center staff and watching students grow as they complete our programs. It is wonderful to have been a part of that.” Emilie will begin the Master of Social Service Administration program at the University of Chicago in September.

Amy VanBecelaere, Housing Coordinator, is still living in Chicago, and attending graduate school at Columbia College Chicago where she will acquire her M.A. in Dance Movement Therapy and Mental Health Counseling. Amy says, “The Chicago Center Apprenticeship inspired me to become a more articulate, cultured, well-informed individual. I am so grateful for the richness of experiences I have been graced with in the past year, and intend to use all the tools I have gained at my time there in life, in relation with others and undoubtedly in my graduate studies. Through the Chicago Center, I have not only discovered so much about cultures different than my own but have gained an enhanced understanding of my own culture as well.”

Administrative and Special Events Coordinator Whitney Voss says, “I want to say thank you to the Chicago Center for giving me the opportunity to work in the city and extend my time in Chicago for another year.  This experience has taught me so much about the different communities and cultures throughout Chicago, and the injustices in our society.   My time here has far surpassed my expectations, and I know that I have grown into a better person because of the Chicago Center! ” Whitney plans to travel home to Michigan and enjoy the rest of summer relaxing by the pool. She is looking forward to spending time with family and making plans to attend graduate school in the next year.

Kevin Zabel, Long Program Coordinator, is heading to Knoxville, Tennessee for an Experimental Psychology PhD. program at the University of Tennessee. He says, “My experiences with the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture, both as a student and as an apprentice, have provided me unique opportunities to hone invaluable work skill sets. Collectively, my experiences will forever affect the ways I think about not only my perceptions of others, but the ways in which others perceive me. In short, my experiences have forever impacted me. I am grateful for the many class resources, co-workers, and students I have had the opportunity to meet, engage with, and learn from along the way!”

Our apprentices have all worked really hard this year and contributed a great deal to the accomplishments of the Center.  A new set of apprentices will join the Chicago Center during the upcoming week.

After Her Chicago Internship Program: Whitney’s Apprentice Highlights

Whitney Voss, Administrative and Special Events Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Whitney Voss, Administrative and Special Events Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:

“Hello! My name is Whitney, one of the six apprentices finishing up our final week at the Chicago Center! I am amazed by how fast the time goes by and sad to be ending this wonderful opportunity to live in Chicago. I am grateful for my time at the Chicago Center, and now feel equipped with the tools to take on any adventure that comes my way!

My hometown is Sterling Heights, Michigan, about a half hour north of Detroit.  I am an alumna of Albion College, Class of 2009, where I received a liberal arts education graduating with a degree in Interpersonal Communications and Dance.

I attended the Chicago Center my last semester at Albion, coming to beautiful snowy Chicago in January 2009 to participate in the academic term. To complete my credits to graduate, I wanted to find an Internship in dance in which I could learn the behind the scene facets of a dance company.  After interviewing with several theatre and dance companies, I was excited for the opportunity to work as a Development Intern at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, a contemporary company internationally recognized for their innovative, groundbreaking movement.  I was also lucky to receive the Kemper Arts Fellowship, a program that allowed me to extend my work into the city, gaining hands-on experience in arts management and non-profit leadership through promotion of diversity in education, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. Coming into a dance internship, I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of inequality throughout our communities, but my time spent with Hubbard Street opened up my world and made me realize how much I still have to learn.

Working at Hubbard Street Dance gave me a taste of the struggles non-profits face and the importance of cultivating strong community-based partnerships. I also learned the ground work for fundraising and event planning, which is what I have been doing for the past year at the Chicago Center!

Participating in the Communities and Culture seminar as a student was probably the most invaluable experience I received while in Chicago.  Having the opportunity to be exposed to diverse urban neighborhoods forever changed the way I see and understand the world. Visiting the Southwest Youth Collaborative and meeting Camille Odeh is one experience that sticks out above the rest.    Meeting the at risk youth at SWYC made me realize the pressure on urban adolescents and the need for organizations and activities that give youth an outlet to be creative, get help with school, talk to mentors and meet friends.  Working with the youth at SWYC for my research topic, allowed me to personally interact with urban teens and gain a better understanding of how an activity like dance could keep youth involved and off the streets.   

I enjoyed my time as a student at the Chicago Center so much that I decided to apply for the apprenticeship program.  It was easy to fall in the love with the city and I really wanted to extend my time in Chicago.  I was excited to be chosen as the Administrative and Special Events Coordinator for the 2009-2010 year, and was even more excited to learn that I would be helping plan the 40^th Anniversary gala.    

Staffing the student’s events is one of the best parts of the job,  you continue to learn about the city and travel to hidden gems and neighborhoods that have so much culture and history.  A big part of my position this past year has been managing the Fall and Spring Fundraisers.  Donations and gifts play a big part in keeping a non-profit company running, and I was happy to manage two successful fundraisers, and hope to have laid the ground work for more successful fundraisers to come.  

Aside from providing administrative support for office function and maintenance, along with organizing and updating the Chicago Center database, I have most enjoyed working with my supervisor, Althea Conyers, on  planning  the 40^th Anniversary gala! Celebrating Chicago Center’s 40 years of service is a very exciting time, and I was proud to be a party of the planning committee.  The 40^th Anniversary celebration will be held on November 6, 2010 at Carnivale!  After viewing several different locations to find a venue, I am absolutely positive that we have found the perfect place to celebrate the Chicago Center and bring together four decades of alumni!  I cannot wait to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary and meet so many of you whose lives have been enriched because of the Chicago Center!

I want to say thank you to the Chicago Center for giving me the opportunity to work in the city and extend my time in Chicago for another year.  This experience has taught me so much about the different communities and cultures throughout Chicago, and the injustices in our society.   My time here has far surpassed my expectations, and I know that I have grown into a better person because of the Chicago Center!  A quote that has been heard several times this year perfectly wraps up my feeling about the Chicago Center.

I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.                                                                                                                                                                                        -Confucius

Thank you for helping me understand.  I still have so much to learn.”

We’d like to thank Whitney for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

After His Chicago Internship Program: Kevin’s Apprentice Highlights

Kevin Zabel, Academic Program Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job, it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Kevin Zabel, Academic Program Coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:

“For the past ten months, I have had the privilege to work at the Chicago Center as the Academic Program Coordinator. At the Chicago Center, we have three student tracks: Urban Teaching, Social Work, and Academic. Our students utilize our program for a host of reasons, of which a few most popular are opportunities to fulfill college requirements (e.g., student teaching placement, social work field work placement, or academic internship) in an urban environment, the diversity of Chicago, the opportunity to live independently in an urban environment, and the staff support that we provide our students. As class assistant to our academic, student teaching, and social work programs, I have come to better understand the inner workings of the various tracks, as well as the first-voice method of learning our program utilizes. By first-voice, I mean that instead of our student teachers reading about teaching strategies for urban classrooms, or our academic students reading about different communities and cultures in a textbook, our students get the opportunity to engage directly with our learning resources and individuals. For example, recently, our student teachers met directly with Greg Michie, an author and educator who has written several books on urban education techniques. Moreover, as academic class assistant, I have scheduled such events as a meeting with representatives from the Center on Halsted (LGBT center on the north side of Chicago), a mural tour of the Pilsen (predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American) community in Chicago, and immigration discussions with Korean American Resource & Community Center and Latino Organization of the Southwest representatives,  as well as attended such events as the Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, and Puerto Rican Day Parade with students. These events and meetings are just a few of the resources and events we typically utilize throughout our terms.

I attended the Chicago Center as a student during my Fall 2007 semester at Albion College. I grew up in a small, rural community and attended college in a very similar environment. As a result, I attended the Chicago Center in large part to experience living in an urban setting for the first time, but also for the wide range of internship possibilities that the Chicago Center provides. While these expectations were met, I found my experience to be so much more than the conventional reasons that students often choose to study off campus. Using public transportation and a sense of taking ownership of my internship were fostered by the Chicago Center, and provided skills that continue to benefit me to this day (e.g., comfort with navigating in a city environment, interview and networking skills). At the same time, through the class component of the experience, I was introduced to communities and cultures in Chicago that I never (or rarely) had the opportunity to interact with growing up or on my college campus. These experiences encouraged me to reevaluate my beliefs and opinions about different groups of people, and gave me a foundation with which to question the “truth” I had known growing up.

In addition to the class component of the program, I also interned at Merrill Lynch. I entered the program as a business and psychology double major, planning on a career as a financial advisor. Although I enjoyed the work provided me during my internship, I became disenchanted by the amount of salesmanship necessary to succeed as a financial advisor. The internship provided me an opportunity to engage one-on-one with professionals that had worked for years in the business, in some cases working at Merrill Lynch for over forty years. Their knowledge, as well as the opportunity to learn from their stories and experiences, persuaded me to focus exclusively on my psychology major field of study upon my return to school.

Upon graduation, I knew that I wanted to take a year off from school and get work experience. The Chicago Center apprenticeship provided the perfect opportunity to extend upon my experience as a student, while simultaneously honing valuable organizational skills and communication workplace skills that will aid significantly in my future work endeavors. In Fall 2010, I will begin graduate study in the social psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. Working with our students as class assistant, as well as working with fellow staff members and class resources has provided me invaluable experience that will aid in my future research and teaching endeavors. In addition, the events and discussions I have been privy to both as a student and class assistant have forever affected the ways in which I form opinions about issues or groups of people. I feel privileged to work for an organization and with staff whom I respect very much, and I look forward to the new challenges that graduate school will bring. It is my hope that in addition to my fellow incoming Fall 2010 UT classmates, I can bring a fresh perspective to research and learning. Through my experiences as a student and as an apprentice, the Chicago Center has prepared me exceptionally well to accomplish this goal.”

We’d like to thank Kevin for telling us about his experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

After Her Chicago Internship Program: Amy’s Apprentice Highlights

Amy VanBecelaere, Housing Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Amy VanBecelaere, Housing Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:

“My name is Amy VanBecelaere, and I am the current Housing Coordinator for The Chicago Center. I am a graduate of Adrian College where I received my B.A. in Psychology with minors in both Women’s Studies and Theatre (with a dance emphasis). Growing up in Metro Detroit (St. Clair Shores) with a lifelong interest in the performing arts, I had always known that I wanted to be connected to and a part of a big city, but I had little idea of how my heart would get there.

Through my undergraduate work at Adrian, I began to discover my own unique interests and life goals. I realized there that I had both a deep internal passion for dance and psychology; however I was having some trouble figuring out how to combine these interests in a concrete way. Soon enough, I was focusing my energy into the field of Dance Movement Therapy but still had little direction on how to gain any kind of experience in the field due to lack of resources of this kind in Michigan.

The Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture entered my life at exactly the right time. Just looking through the brochure and seeing pictures of incredible mural work, African women dancing with such a glowing energy, and the general idea of living in a major city and center for culture; I knew I could find what I was looking for there. I saved all of my money for two summers and finally became a Chicago Center student in the Summer of 2008.

As I expected, Chicago as a city was bursting with possibilities. I ended up choosing an internship placement with Chicago’s only African-American modern dance company; Deeply Rooted Productions. Unlike most professional dance companies I had worked with before, Deeply Rooted had a unique focus on self-actualization through movement. Dancers (including myself) engaged in a continuum process where they grew not only as performers but as fully-functioning self-aware people as well. The Chicago Center helped me find a place where I could really develop and combine my interests in Dance and Psychology. However, my learning certainly was not limited to my internship.

The Chicago Center exposed me to so many different communities and cultures that I had never considered before. I grew immensely by interacting with community leaders, residents, performers and active citizens of Chicago. The Center really opened my mind and heart to new experiences and voices. I had always considered myself a culturally-aware, educated and open-minded person but I can say that I never truly understood what that was until I became a student at Chicago Center. I don’t know that I would have ever imagined myself, as a suburban grown white woman on stage dancing traditional African dance in full Kente cloth singing a West African Call entitled “Reza Agambani” (Feast of the Strong One), but that is where my experience took me. I returned to my campus with an experience unlike any of my classmates, I had a new found confidence in my opinions and knowledge of what it was to live in an urban environment. My professors and colleagues recognized a change in the way I interacted in the classroom and beyond. I now knew what I believed about city life because I had lived it but most importantly, I had a clear understanding of who I was as a person.

I knew that after my summer in Chicago, I would undoubtedly return to the city that became my new home and love. I also knew that only the Chicago Center could really help me truly understand what it was to be a Chicagoan. I wanted to be a part of future student’s experiences and help them find their way in the city the way I did!

As an apprentice for the Chicago Center, I am at forefront of encouraging and supporting each students own unique and fantastic experience in the city. I am grateful for the opportunity to hear stories and experiences from the students each week in my housing meetings. It is there that I also address concerns and maintenance issues. I love being able to provide support and make things easier for students as they are being challenged to grow and think in new ways in the City; it is what makes my job at the center so incredibly rewarding.

This year, my position as the housing coordinator has changed a lot. We now own our own building for student housing which we fondly call “The Boulevard”. I have been at the forefront of the transition between our old housing (renting at different units in Hyde Park) to a new building where we have really been in control and responsible for everything that happens within our own housing. After scheduling a tremendous amount of movers, cleaners and workers in all different ways (lots of support from Chicago Center staff) the building is finally finished! My crew and I were in charge of setting up the flats for students to live in for the first time in January and it appears to be a huge success. The students love our new facility and I am so proud to have played such a major role in putting things together. The whole center has spent so much time, effort and work into our new building and I think that it definitely shows.

Now that the biggest job is done, I am responsible for the maintenance and order of the building. I also prepare housing for incoming students each semester as well as our short term LC! Programs. I try to be a resource for students in any way I can, and I am extremely blessed to be part of such an incredible program that is working to expand the minds of students and faculty across the country. I only have a few short months left with the Chicago Center, and I will cherish them forever I am sure. I am currently interested in looking for a job in a social service setting and am actively looking for opportunities to use my dance/theatre experience to help people in any way I can. Come August, I will be attending graduate school at Columbia College Chicago and will earn my masters degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and Mental Health Counseling in the next few years. I know that my time and experiences here at The Chicago Center have without doubt helped me accomplish that goal and will continue to influence and inspire any goals I set for the future!”

We’d like to thank Amy for telling us about her experience and letting us share it with our potential students and alumni!

After His Chicago Internship Program: Steve’s Apprentice Highlights

Steve Broadwell, Recruitment Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Steve Broadwell, Recruitment Coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center: Read More

After Her Chicago Internship Program: Michelle’s Apprentice Highlights

Michelle Bess, LearnChicago! Coordinator

The Urban Apprenticeship is an exciting opportunity we offer Chicago Center alumni that have just graduated college.  More than a job it offers opportunities for learning and skill development in a supportive urban learning community.

The apprenticeship started in 1990 and grew out of the mutual interests of Chicago Center alums to prolong their contact with Chicago Center and the Center’s interest in strengthening its staff and program.  It has exceeded expectations in both arenas and has become a great strength of Chicago Center. The Urban Apprentice usually spends one full year in residence at Chicago Center.  This month Michelle Bess, LearnChicago! Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center. Read More