Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

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!

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: 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!

Chicago Summer Internships: How to Start Looking Now!

Although it’s still winter here in Chicago, you may want to start making your summer plans … even if it’s just so you can think about warm weather and classes being out! If your summer might include working in a Chicago summer internship, here are some ways to start looking and prepare yourself.

What kind of Chicago summer internships are there?

Chicago, being the 3rd largest urban center and having the 2nd largest job market in the country, hosts many industries and offers various types of employment. Some college students know exactly what kind of internship they want and which industry they want to work in; those students can get started right away on their Chicago Center application and look through examples of internships on our internships page. We have networked with hundreds of agencies, corporate organizations, arts groups and more to find internship sites that will give you great guidance, experience and let you contribute to the community  in significant and meaningful ways.

However, if you aren’t exactly sure what career you may want get started in, here’s how you can start your research on Chicago summer internships: Read More

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