Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

Chicago Center Vlog: First Voice First Listen

Chicago Center Vlog: Emily’s Top 5

After her Chicago Internship Program: Megan’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 Megan Crawford, LearnChicago! Coordinator talks about her experience with Chicago Center:

“I can’t believe it’s already my turn to write an Apprentice blog! That means our time as employees of Chicago Center is almost over. I have some amazing experiences as the LearnChicago! Program Coordinator. I have had a blast working with so many great colleges and diverse groups. I’ve loved participating in the programs and learning along with the students. I’ve been challenged and encouraged to take autonomy of my position, and my own abilities and career goals have, undoubtedly, been strengthened. Truthfully, I have loved every part of the past year and it still seems surreal that I get paid to work with such a fantastic group of individuals.

The Center is an amazing organization and, if anything, this year has showed me that it serves a different role for everyone. Each student finds something unique within its pedagogy. Some find answers to personal struggles within their class discussions; some find their vocation through internships; others arrive in the big city and find their future home. Regardless of the form it takes, each student who attends Chicago Center finds one thing: transformation.

Truthfully, I applied to the Apprenticeship program with very selfish reasons. I was at a point in my life where I needed change and I wanted to live in a city where I would be accepted. I wanted a job that would let me transform, both professionally and personally – and it has.

Chicago Center has become like family; it has given me the courage to start over, the confidence to live openly, and a supportive environment in which to question my beliefs. We are all different: not everyone on staff necessarily loves Barack Obama, holds the same religious beliefs, or even thinks the White Sox are God’s gift to baseball. But those differences [except maybe disliking the White Sox] are encouraged.

In my opinion, that’s the best part of Chicago Center and the highlight of my position as LearnChicago! Program Coordinator. I have been able to witness how the programs and activities I’ve planned have affected dozens of students. Whatever the class and wherever state they’re from, there’s always at least one student who voices how Chicago transforms him. I have seen so many students come to this city and find a community that meets their needs and interests and, for the first time, feel a certain acceptance. I’ve watched students face their fear of living, working, and navigating big cities and discover an independence they hadn’t thought possible. Some just leave with a more open mind and a better understanding of the world around them. I am so grateful to have been a part of it.

In one of his all-staff emails, Scott Chesebro, our venerated Executive Director, described a recent political change as “an affirmation of the value of inclusion in dialogue and of the recognition of the human experience of difference.” To me, this speaks to the heart of the Center. This program allows students to express and embrace the most important, and often vastly unique, parts of them. And, fortunately for me, it allows staff members to do the same.

So thanks, Chicago Center: hopefully the new Apprentices find their year on staff just as transformative as we did.”

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

After his Chicago Internship Program: Okwara’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 Okwara Uzoh, Marketing and Public Relations coordinator talks about his experience with Chicago Center:

“When I first came to the United States at the age of nine, I landed at O’Hare airport. The first American soil I touched was Chicago soil. My first passport came from Chicago. The second zoo I ever went to was in Chicago, and the first play I ever went to in a big city was at the Goodman Theatre when I was in 11th grade. Notice a trend here? So, although I lived only two hours away from Chicago in the little town of Berrien Springs for nine years out of my life, I had always wanted to experience the real Chicago. Yes, I had been downtown, been a tourist, saw the big city as an immigrant, and all that jazz, but I’d never gotten to explore the ‘real’ Chicago on my own.

The opportunity came when Emily Nelson and Tiffanie Beatty came to my Intermediate Acting class during my junior year of college. I was already looking for an internship to do following my junior of college and when I found out that Alma College had an off-campus Chicago program, I was hooked. Tiff and Emily caught me at the most opportune time; this was the moment I had been waiting for all my life – to actually live in Chicago and explore.

Being the college student I am, I rushed to get all my documents in the day before it was due. I did not want to miss this window. The year flew by quickly and summer 2008 rolled around. I was driving along with my friends Kristin and Beth in an SUV to experience something that I was not ready for. I can’t even begin to describe this feeling. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I finally arrived and ran into Scott, who directed me to the Drexel apartments. I got to my room, unpacked my belongings, breathed a sigh of relief and embraced that I was finally here. I was about to live in Chicago for the best two months of my life.

During my two months in Chicago, I had so many amazing experiences. I tried new foods and met different people — even some who had the same experiences I did as an immigrant. I attended multiple festivals and saw Snoop Dogg and 311 perform live. I went to my first baseball game, was exposed to tons of important issues others weren’t even aware of, and put myself out there to experience the real Chicago.

The Center challenged me on a lot of things, but there’s one that sticks out: my identity.

My identity. I always thought of myself as two things: Nigerian and black. Yes, I have black skin and I have all the attributes of being a black person in America, but I am a purebred Nigerian at heart. That is something I never took into consideration until I saw how segregated the city of Chicago is. It was staring me right in the face. I would be riding the bus on the south side with African Americans, but I never felt the part of being an African American. I speak, dress, and carry myself differently. I like rock music more than rap. I don’t fit all the stereotypes of your typical African American. I came to terms that I am a Nigerian. I am proud of my identity. The more I came to terms with it, the more I did research about my country and talked to my parents about the history of my country. I also went back home and made it my goal to learn how to speak my language, Igbo.

Thanks to all of the things I was exposed to, I was sad to leave this wonderful city. I had always wanted to live in a big city again after growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. Chicago felt like home. I didn’t know how I was going to end up here. As I was giving Scott a hug on wrap up, I stated, “I should be an apprentice.” He gave me the ‘Scott laugh’ (which all of you know) and said, “Apply and see what happens.” I nodded and said, “Yes.” Two years flew by and I applied for the apprenticeship program and got the job as the Marketing and P.R. Coordinator.

During my time as an apprentice, I have continued to add on from where I left off after my term as a student. I know the behind-the-scenes work of what went into my term as a summer student. It’s a lot of work. We have a small staff, but we get a lot of objectives accomplished. I have been able to use my computer knowledge in the office. I was able to help organize the 40th Anniversary, which turned out to be a great event. To see all the work that was put into a huge event and have such a great result was rewarding. I have also been able to meet resources that other classes participated in. The list goes on and on about the opportunities I have had as an apprentice. There’s still more to come with the amount of time I have left in my position.

I have been grateful for the chance to come back and be an apprentice and bring some of my ideas to the table as a Chicago Center staff member. I continue to explore this great city for what it has to offer. Some of it includes having Teyonda showing me the great deals on restaurants.com, Groupon and Poggled; I’ve experienced everything from baseball games and the Bears almost going to the Super Bowl to Rahm winning the mayoral election. There has been so much going on that I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for being in the city at this time. I continue to grow as a person being in this position and continue to learn from all the people around me.”

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

Immerse yourself in the Windy City with a Chicago Center internship

“We know many of our users would like to intern in a major urban cultural center like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, but many are intimidated by the logistics and cost of moving for a temporary work experience.

This week, I discussed these issues with Lane Chesebro, admissions director at the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture. Chicago Center is a nonprofit organization that arranges internship experiences and student accommodations in Chicago’sHyde Park neighborhood, site of the University of Chicago and longtime home of President Barack Obama.”

Click here to continue reading.

Chicago Center’s 40th Anniversary coffee table book: Coming Home Again

Coming Home Again: Chicago Center 1970-2010

Chicago Center’s 40^th Anniversary coffee table book is a powerful retrospective of our 40 year history, and includes the stories of 20 alumni from 1970-2010 as well as reflections from founders, current and former staff members, and lots of photos.

Excerpt from Preface by Scott Chesebro, PhD

“I’m often asked if Chicago Center keeps track of alumni or has any data on the impact of our programs on participants once they leave. My usual response is that we don’t do a good job of tracking alumni and that we have never had the resources to do a study of those who have done the program. When Phil Schmidt, History Professor at Southwestern College asked me if he could spend his sabbatical with us, I immediately knew what I wanted him to do. This book is the culmination of his sabbatical project and involved many hours of travel, interviews, transcripts, writing, editing, layout, and graphics and finally publishing. Many others besides Phil became committed and involved in the project. I now have an answer to the question posed above.

Phil Schmidt spent his sabbatical travelling to different parts of the country to interview people that I selected for the project. Out of the interviews, Phil Schmidt and Ashley Holloway, along with an editing committee which included Tiffanie Beatty and Megan Crawford created the stories included in the book.  Alleigh Schmidt, Lane Cheseboro, and Cameron Siefkes helped transcribe the interviews. Tricia Fensky, a student in the Summer Session of 2010 and a senior at McPherson College designed the book and took responsibility for mounting photos and all of the graphics. Emily Nelson managed the project and brought all of the pieces together.”

Raj Biyani Excerpt

As General Manager of the CIO/Product Group Strategic Initiatives team at Microsoft Industries, Raj Biyani offers students this advice. “The major your focus on will prepare you for the first three to five years after college. And in fact, you may be at a disadvantage to your peers at more focused institutes like MIT or the University of Waterloo, which are great computer science programs. But when it comes to your life five years and beyond, its liberal arts education that’s going to ground you and enable you to learn what you need. And so I would put the Chicago Center experience in the context of a liberal arts education, because in a lot of ways Chicago Center is an immersive liberal arts program in the midst of a city.”

Any LaChance Excerpt

“…a woman was speaking named Christina Martinez and as she was speaking I said to myself ‘that’s what I want to do. I want to do what she’s doing.’ After she was done talking I went up to her and said ‘I really liked what you had to say and I’m just wondering how did you get into this kind of work? How did you get here?” …Amy LaChance later earned a Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy with a specialization in Community Development; the exact credential Christina Martinez told her about. After completing her MUPP, Amy was hired as the Senior Resource Development Associate at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. “Interestingly, Christina ended up working here later on as the Neighborhood Director at our Back of the Yards office. And I told her one day, ‘you don’t know me, and you don’t know this but you’re the reason I’m here.’”

Phyllis Cunningham Excerpt

“…it’s away from the whole notion there’s somebody who has all the knowledge. That knowledge is the knowledge, rather than the fact that our job is making spaces for people to create their own knowledge and that knowledge is not defined by a group of people, but rather knowledge is something created by all people.”—Phyllis Cunningham, CCULC co-founder

To purchase the book please visit our homepage

Chicago Summer Internships: More Than Just a Job

Chicago summer internships give you extremely valuable professional skills that can assist you in your search for a job and for the career that will satisfy you. However, being in Chicago teaches you a lot more than just professional skills. Living in one of the country’s urban centers can teach you life lessons and skills that you can’t learn any other way.

Navigating Chicago

If you have never lived in a urban setting, an internship in Chicago can be an eye-opening experience since you’ll be living in the city. First of all, you will have to learn to get around! In our Chicago internship programs, we allow you to get oriented before you start your internship and seminars.

One of the first things you learn is how to get around. The famous “El” train, buses and even trolleys can help you get around in the Windy City, and we’ll help you get accustomed to riding public transportation. Before you know it, it will feel like second nature. Bus and train routes become more than just lines on a map as you get to know the landmarks and attractions of the city. Read More

Summer Session 2008 Wrap Up Photos!

photos by Keith Zabel

Fall Semester Internships – Academic Program

More notes about internships from current students in the Fall 2007 Academic Semester.

Maggie writes: 

I am working with the editor of the Hyde Park Herald on something resembling an independent research project. We have spent the first few weeks getting to understand the CHA’s plan to move residents out of and demolish various housing developments on the southside. We will also be conducting and transcribing interviews with community members going through the relocation process. 
I chose this internship because it is a great mix of the subjects I am studying in college, sociology and ethnic studies, and I have been able to grapple with things like gentrification, segregation, and institutionalized racism as well as other race/class based housing issues. 

I will be responsible for gathering and transcribing interviews and through regular discussions with the editor (Gabriel Piedmonte) will get to help decide what best to do with our database. 

Michelle writes: 
I’m an intern at the Ronald McDonald House in Lincoln Park (a neighborhood north of the Loop). I do anything from office work to projects on my own such as “sibling support.” 

 Sibling support is a program that basically reasures healthy siblings that they are not forgotten. Parents seem to put all the attention on the sick child and forget to acknowledge them. At the RMH house we provide stationaries to send letters home, phone cards and even a toy store in our basement. We understand that the families that stay at RMH dont have a lot to give but we do. We want them to feel at home and take full advantage of everything our house offers. 

I think it’s the little things that makes RMH so special to so many families all over the world. I love when guests say RMH is their “home away from home.”

Cowboy at the Lakefront

This gentleman from Indiana likes to ride and relax along the lakefront in Hyde Park. Hard to find a prettier place in the city!