Fall 2017

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The Academy's First Class

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Finding New Paths

The Academy's First Class

Academic Grounds

College Bound

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Danny Rodriguez: Speaking Up, Speaking Out

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Get to know a few of the recent graduates from the Northwestern Academy of Chicago Public Schools

Jack MaJACK MA

The Northwestern Academy opened Jack Ma’s eyes to opportunities that he never even knew existed. Ma plans to study chemical engineering at Lafayette College, which he discovered during an Academy-organized tour of Pennsylvania universities.

“Lafayette is giving me almost a full ride,” says Ma, the son of Chinese immigrants. “I would like to really thank the Northwestern Academy, because if they hadn’t given me this opportunity, I wouldn’t be going to Lafayette. I’d be going to some other college that would probably put me in debt, and it would put a lot of pressure on my family.”

In addition to expanding his opportunities, Ma says his Academy advisers, including Anna Rodriguez, gave him a safe space to vent his frustrations, take stock of his accomplishments and maintain his progress.

“Throughout the years they had these checkpoints, seeing if we were fine or not,” says Ma, who graduated from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center. “I was on the swimming and water polo teams, and at the same time I took five [Advanced Placement classes], so the stress load was really hard for me to handle. Those checkpoints helped me to take a moment to relax and see that I may be suffering now, but at the end it’s going to be all worth it.”

Magdalenda SoteloMAGDALENA SOTELO

Magdalena Sotelo grew up in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, living in a cramped, two-room attic apartment with her mother, two sisters and the family pit bull, Milo. She’d often set an alarm clock to wake up at midnight, the only time she could find the solitude she needed for studying.

Despite the cramped quarters, Sotelo excelled in school and eventually became valedictorian at Lake View High School, where she played volleyball, softball, tennis, water polo and, her favorite, basketball.

This fall she’s headed to Colorado College to study neuroscience or microbiology.

Sotelo says the Academy taught her to advocate for herself. “I was very shy,” she says. “Going through this program, I learned where to look for things and how to ask for what I needed.”

Now Sotelo’s younger sister, Brenda, a rising sophomore at Amundsen High School, is part of the program’s incoming cohort of 78 students.

Hasiba ZandiHASIBA ZANDI

Hasiba Zandi is off to Brown University, where she is planning to study neuroscience on a premed track.

“I didn’t expect to go so far,” says Zandi, a first-generation college student. A graduate of Chicago Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park, Zandi discovered much about herself and her college ambitions through her experience at the Acacemy.

“Northwestern Academy really helped me to expand my knowledge with what kind of colleges I was going to apply to,” she says. “I wouldn’t have applied to any schools outside of Illinois if it wasn’t for the program.

“It’s going to be really scary,” Zandi says of the transition to college, “but I’m glad that I have a program like Northwestern Academy to support me while I move away. It’s nice to have the Academy advisers to lean on.”