Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

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!

Chicago Center looks back on 40 years of urban education

Hyde Park Herald, November 3, 2010

The Chicago Center, located here in Hyde Park, could very well be the most important neighborhood institution you’ve never heard of.  Tucked away in the office space at 1515 E. 52nd Pl., the center has spent four decades bridging the gap between urban communities and those that attend university with an eye to studying them, teaching in them and otherwise working in those places.  Scott Chesebro, who heads the center, describes it as having more in common with, for example, a living abroad program than with a more traditional urban studies format.

We don’t think of ourselves as a service learning program.  We don’t think of ourselves as a vista-type education program [We are] an urban education program that utilizes the city and its resources as an educational tool,” Chesebro said.

Students at Chicago Center, who come from over 30 colleges largely in less urban settings and in many cases from across the Midwest, are given crash courses in navigating public transportation, exposed to the diversity of neighborhoods throughout the city and are challenged to deal directly with the people who are represented by the studies and statistics that often are the main fare of such majors as sociology and urban planning.

It is this quality, which Urban Social Work Practicum Director Arvis Averette describes as “a reliance on first voices,” that sets the center apart from many other kinds of programs.

“It’s like study abroad in Chicago,” Chesebro said. “It functions more like a study abroad program than it does a service learning program or an internship program that a student might do while they’re at the University of Chicago.  Maybe they do an internship at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, but they’re still living on campus, they’re still going to classes every day. They’re just doing a volunteer experience in the neighborhood.”

Averette contrasts this to other learning environments related to urban studies.

“Many of the academic things that one does in school-you look at the community and study it, look at the statistics and so forth. But here- the separation from the other programs I’ve been aware of – is this reliance on having people from that community who are very responsible people, who know the community and speak to it to the students in a learning fashion,” Averette said. “For example, if we are going to deal with Bronzeville, we would invariably talk to Tim Black or Harold Lucas who are the reigning experts on these areas.”

By all accounts, students currently at the center give high marks to the approach.

Student Ryann Bird, who comes from a small town in rural Nebraska and attends school in Lincoln, said her initial impression of the South Side of Chicago was, like many people, based on pretty unreliable source of information.

“I’m from a really tiny town in Nebraska with 5,500 people.  My parents, they knew everything they see on TV about the South Side of Chicago.  I was nervous at first,” Bird said. “But Hyde Park is really safe and homey…it’s not like the media portrays it at all.”

Bird is interning at the DuSable Museum of African American History, which she gets to via public transportation each day from the apartment building the center recently purchased for its students.  Student Beth Izzo, who is teaching second grade at Beasley Elemetary on State Street, said the shared living quarters have been a big help to her as a student teacher.

‘It’s good to live with other student teachers so we can talk about our experiences, which always helps,” Izzo said, “It’s nice to have that support system.”

Chicago Center is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a full day of events this Saturday, Nov. 6, culminating in an evening at Carnivale.  For more information, call Althea Conyers at 773-363-1312 or visit chicagocenter.org

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!

Chicago Internships: How An Internship Can Help You Get A Job

Chicago internships can assist you in facing one of the biggest life transitions: Starting a career. Getting a job right out of college these days is harder than ever. With a lagging economy and a job market saturated with entry-level employees, finding employment can be difficult no matter how qualified you are.

What are employers looking for more than anything? Real experience. And a great way to get real on-the-job experience is through choosing a Chicago internship in your field.

How can a college internship help you get a job?

Well, there are skills that you learn and tools you acquire that make the Chicago internship experience completely irreplaceable on your way to your chosen career. Here are the things a college internship can teach that make you a better candidate for employment. Read More