Before Eleshaday Mengiste joined the University of Chicago’s Collegiate Scholars Program (CSP), she thought the path to her future career needed to be straight. Mengiste, a senior at Northside College Prep high school and soon-to-be-first-generation college student from the city’s West Rogers Park neighborhood, has always been interested in science and assumed that meant she’d work toward being a doctor—but after taking part in CSP’s many career exploration workshops, she’s committed to keeping an open mind when she sets off for Harvard in the fall.
“A bunch of panelists would share their life stories [during CSP workshops] and how many other things that they had decided to do before they settled on one thing that was completely different than what they had imagined for themselves and it was really enlightening,” Mengiste said. “Being able to hear from those people and getting to understand their experiences has really shaped how I’m thinking about my future and it being okay not knowing exactly what you want to do and just being okay with exploring and discovering new things.”
CSP is a three-year enrichment program that prepares talented students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds like Mengiste for admission and success at highly selective colleges. For Mengiste, participating in the program was also an opportunity to build a support system of peers from across the city navigating similar experiences. “Being surrounded by other first-generation kids, it was just nice to have an outlet and people that understood what it felt like to maybe not have somebody at home who understands the entire [college application] process and having to rely on yourself or Google most of the time,” she said. CSP’s staff, too, were a trusted source of encouragement. When Mengiste was considering applying to Harvard early decision, meetings with CSP staff helped her work through concerns she was having and boosted her confidence.
“[CSP’s staff] really helped me see the worth in my application and just in myself overall and took that worry away,” Mengiste said. “I left that meeting really sure about my decision.”
Now, as Mengiste looks ahead to her years at Harvard, she’s grateful to be able to imagine herself on a college campus—a place she’d never been before CSP—thanks to the classes, activities, and national college tours (one that even visited Harvard’s campus) she took part in for CSP.
“Especially UChicago being where it is on the South Side of Chicago—where there are a lot of under-resourced education institutions—I think it’s just so valuable for kids to be able to see the University of Chicago as the high-ranked university that it is and as rigorous as it is, to know that it is attainable no matter where you’re from, no matter what your family looks like, and no matter what experiences that you’ve been through,” she said. “Just being able to walk on campus and be in the library with kids who go to this school and are on their way to do amazing things, I think it really put in perspective how possible a lot of things are.”
