The First Word
“Being able to graduate from college shows how much I’ve made it in life and improved over time, and it is proof of the many achievements I’ve made.”
- Diamond Jenkins ‘19 Pathways Student
“I picked National Louis because of its experience for teachers. I want to get a degree in special education, and my family told me that this is the best school for teaching, and I think that this will be a good school for that. My sister died last January of Prader-Willi syndrome, which is what is motivating me to work with special ed. students.”
We Have Their Backs By Jennifer Robin ‘06 M.A.T. in Secondary Education
- Joy Cook ‘19 Pathways Student
The future depends on the potential of our young leaders. As a teacher at Uplift, a Chicago Public School, and a OneGoal program director, I have spent much of the past 10 years mentoring students, teaching them to be advocates for themselves on their journeys toward college graduation. Helping students get admitted into college, apply for the right scholarships and financial support, and prepare to be successful and persist once on a college campus is something I have always been extremely passionate about. When I found out that National Louis University, my graduate school alma mater, was hiring a student success coach to provide specialized support for newly admitted college freshmen, I decided to leave my position as a teacher to further pursue my passion at the post-secondary level.
would take care of my students once they arrived on college campuses. I remember my own first experiences on a college campus as an undergrad, and although those memories are fond, I also remember being overwhelmed and not knowing whom to turn to for support. I am beyond excited to be in this new role and have really hit the ground running in order to be ready to lead the inaugural class of the Harrison Professional Pathways Program to success. National Louis University’s leadership team, led by Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., has created a program that is affordable and convenient, while also challenging students and providing them with appropriate support — which is where I come in. The role of the Student Success Coach is to provide personal, professional and academic support to students throughout their time at NLU. All
students start out by meeting with me and signing the NLU Student Success Promise, which outlines how students and the university work together to promote academic success. During this initial meeting, I also have students write out goals for the next four years as well as think ahead to write goals for the next 10 and 20 years. Although this might seem like a daunting task, I think it shows students that we expect a lot from them, as a university, but that we are willing to help them out each step of the way. Since most of the freshmen in this program are also the first generation of their families to go to college, it is important for them to know we have their backs and it’s not just “sink-or-swim” survival. At NLU we don’t just want our students to survive, we want them to find that leadership potential, so they thrive as alumni in the meaningful careers that shape our future.
While working with high school seniors, I have often wondered who
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