Mitzi’s Story of Exploring Life Beyond High School

“I was just excited for this new chapter, going to college, experiencing it, and working towards a degree since my parents didn’t really get that opportunity.”

Meet Mitzi:

Mitzi is a Mexican-American, first-generation college student who grew up in Gage Park, a majority-Latinx neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. In 2020, Mitzi graduated from a nearby high school in the Back of the Yards neighborhood as an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program student. She has various interests, ranging from Mexican folkloric dance to underwater robotics to literature and creative writing.

Mitzi explained that she is driven to attain a college degree as she would be one of the first in her family to do so. She currently has an associate degree in English and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in creative writing or advertising.

Mitzi’s Story of Exploring Life Beyond High School

During her senior year of high school, Mitzi originally wanted to attend an Ivy League university through a competitive full-tuition national scholarship program. When she was neither accepted to that university nor received the scholarship, Mitzi decided to focus on applying to colleges other than highly-selective colleges. However, she noticed that she didn’t receive as much advice as she had anticipated from her teachers and counselors during the rest of her college decision process. “[They gave students who were aiming for highly selective colleges] a bit more special treatment, rather than the other students that are maybe going to a college in the city or community colleges.” The lack of advice she received made her feel like her counselors thought, “‘Okay, you didn’t get into an ideal school, you can kind of figure it out, or go to your second option school.’”

Mitzi then decided to apply to a local private university, where she started her fall semester after graduating high school in 2020. Once she started her classes, her university emailed her repeatedly regarding her outstanding tuition payment. She recalled, “I kind of entered a panic mode just because I feel like I didn’t prepare enough financially for [my university] with scholarships or applying enough to them.” Mitzi also shared that she didn’t feel supported by her university in trying to resolve the issue. “A majority of the time that I was seeking help, [they would tell me], ‘Oh, I’ll transfer you over to this person’… [and] that’s kind of discouraging since [I wasn’t] really finding someone that can actually help,” she said. Two weeks into the semester, she stopped out.

“A majority of the time that I was seeking help, [they would tell me], ‘Oh, I’ll transfer you over to this person’… [and] that’s kind of discouraging since [I wasn’t] really finding someone that can actually help,”

Although academically rigorous, Mitzi reflected on how she felt her experiences in high school failed to adequately prepare her for the financial realities of enrolling in college. Constantly finding herself “stuck in the grind of [the IB Diploma Programme]” at her high school, she wished, “[We] could have done more in terms of [applying for college and scholarships] because, in comparison to the other students that weren’t in the [IB Diploma] Programme, they were more prepared [to apply to] college than us.” She reflected on how it wasn’t until she was already enrolled at her university and falling behind on her first tuition payment that she realized, “Shoot, I did not do this correctly.”

After stopping out, Mitzi took the rest of the semester off. During that time, she learned from her older sister that she would likely be eligible to receive enough institutional financial aid to cover the cost of attending a local community college and decided to apply. She then reached out to a coordinator of an extracurricular program she had participated in during high school for guidance on this application process. Mitzi shared that, soon after, the program coordinator replied to say, “‘Yeah, I can totally help you with your application.’”

When she started the spring semester at a local community college, Mitzi said she immediately felt supported by her college not only as a student but also as a person. “[The staff and my new advisor] were very helpful in getting me used to being at a community college and giving me information throughout the way,” she recalled. Mitzi said that her school would “have students come to the mental health center to talk to someone about getting used to online learning [during the COVID-19 pandemic]… and professors [were] really helpful during the first week for students that weren’t familiar with the online platform for classes.” Moreover, Mitzi felt that at her community college, “[My academic advisors] wanted to know your background… more about how you grew up or your family context… and even asked if you had kids or not just to give you a SNAP code to help students out with their families, but also to help them stay focused during school.” In contrast, her advisors at her first college were mainly concerned about understanding her academic interests and career aspirations.

“[My academic advisors] wanted to know your background… more about how you grew up or your family context… and even asked if you had kids or not just to give you a SNAP code to help students out with their families, but also to help them stay focused during school.”

Mitzi felt this continued holistic support contributed to her success in completing her associate degree in English at her community college in the spring of 2022. Although she knew her next step would be to transfer to a four-year college, her reflections on her experience applying to colleges during high school discouraged Mitzi from immediately enrolling. “What happened with being [an IB] student in high school was just overwhelming, so I don’t want that to happen again,” she remembered thinking. As a result, Mitzi decided to take another semester off to focus on applying to colleges. “I’m currently also talking to the transfer director [at the college I think I want to attend],” she said, “because I reached out to her about scholarships and she’s very helpful.” Once she enrolls, Mitzi hopes to work towards completing a bachelor’s degree in creative writing or advertising, with a minor in English.

What Mitzi Found Helpful

• Attending a college that demonstrated interest in students’ personal background and community context. As Mitzi put it, “Some [institutions] just want to help you with your degree, and some want to help you as a person.” Attending the latter kind of institution, she realized, put her in a much better position to balance her life both in and out of college during her time there.
• Being able to create meaningful and lasting relationships with adults in high school who could support her after graduating. A pivotal element to Mitzi’s success in graduating from community college and continuing to pursue a bachelor’s degree was the guidance she received from her extracurricular program coordinator to navigate the twists and turns of the post-secondary maze.

Mitzi’s Aspirations for the Field

• Students can learn about all of the post-secondary options available to them, not just four-year colleges, easily and early on. “I don’t think [teachers and counselors should just] push students to go to a university, they should help them out with how much financial aid they’re receiving because that plays a bigger role than what you would think,” said Mitzi. “I honestly didn’t know that I was financially covered with community colleges, and I think if a student… could go to a school without worrying about paying out of pocket, then they should be aware of this option.” She hopes that future students are better supported in understanding the most financially viable options for them before they enroll in college. That way, students can make post-secondary decisions that consider factors beyond institutional selectivity and graduation rates, for example.
• IB students can receive more support during the college application process. At Mitzi’s high school, IB students were allotted a handful of “work days” throughout the year to focus solely on major IB projects and papers. “We should have done something more with those work days,” thought Mitzi, “such as… [applying] for scholarships or, since the teachers were also there, we could have done more in terms of being more college ready.” She also recalled that she didn’t find out that her local community colleges accepted most of her IB credits, unlike many highly selective universities, until the end of her college application process.

Read other students stories of exploring life beyond high school:

Sean is a Black college student who went to high school in Bronzeville. He immediately enrolled in a public university in Illinois and is now transferring to a community college in Chicago to develop his trade skills.

Jarfaire is a Black CPS alumni who graduated from a CPS high school on the West Side of Chicago in 2017. After graduation, Jarfaire immediately joined the army. Although she is grateful for what she has learned from the experience, the idea of going back to school drew her back home.

Drea is currently an active member of the workforce, Drea graduated from a CPS Options school in 2020. Proud of her accomplishments, she shares the reasons behind her positive high school experience and explains each factor of her decision-making process.

Syed immigrated to the United States with his family from India. Syed settled in Rogers Park and graduated high school in 2020. Now a sophomore at a two-year college in Chicago, he reflects on his experience taking a gap year during the pandemic and thinks about his plans for the future.

Kenia is a Mexican-American graduate who grew up in Gage park. Having found support in the YearUp community, Kenia has been able to both progress in the corporate world and spend quality time with her son, whom she had in her senior year of high school. Looking back on the four years before graduating in 2019, Kenia describes some of the support she wished she had.

Elijah is a Black college student from the Far Southeast Side of Chicago. He took time off from college after graduating high school and then enrolled in a public university in Illinois. After completing several semesters, he again took time off from college before returning to the same university.

Kristian is a Black college student from Woodlawn who immediately enrolled in a private university in Ohio. She took a semester off and transferred to an HBCU in Washington D.C., before transferring to a private college in Washington.

Sergio is a Mexican, first-generation college student and DACA recipient from the West Lawn neighborhood. He immediately enrolled in a private university in Chicago, took time off from college, and then transferred to a public university in Chicago.

The To&Through Project team would like to express our most sincere gratitude to Mitzi for sharing her story with us.

Arturo Ballesteros is a class of 2024 student at the University of Chicago, majoring in Public Policy with a specialization in education. Having been born and raised in Chicago, Arturo is passionate about making a positive impact on the South Side and is working to become an educator in his local community in the near future.