Jackie Murphy

Major:

Social Worker

"My parents were working as farmers on the paddy field, each earning $1 for every 8 hours of work. As a family of five, that meant we were living on $60 a month."

Emily Udel

Major:

Creative Writing

I have become a horde of poetry that sleeplessly pours out of me in the small hours of the night, of the lyrics behind songs without melodies, of novels whose endings I am eager to pen down.

Bhavana Gupta

Major:

Neuroscience

Indian Carnatic music is a part of me that rarely finds its way anywhere outside my Sunday morning classes.

Micheal Chen

Major:

Undeclared

I've been stuck in quarantine for many months now and recently I have been scrambling for scraps to keep my bank account from dying.

Wyatt Jones

Major:

General Studies

Since COVID started my mom has been laid off and my dad only works 3 days out of the week

Imani Washington

Major:

Journalism

"Between the political tension from where I come from to racism in the country that received me, I feel like I have to fight three times harder than others."

Luis Lopez

Major:

Molecular and cellular biology

I worked until 11 p.m. everyday, so juggling all of this became extremely difficult on a daily maximum if 4 hours of sleep.

Danilo Zane

Major:

CS + Econ

I want to be many things: an entrepreneur, a scientist, an engineer, a movie producer. If I stayed, I wouldn’t be able to achieve these things in the magnitude that I envision.

Deja Jackson

Major:

School of Social Work

I am a 20 year old black female Muslim and I am a sophomore at the University of Illinois majoring in social work. I have always wanted to be a doctor.

Piotr Nowak

Major:

integrative biology

My name is Jakub Klocek and I am currently a sophomore studying biology here at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Jada Brown

Major:

Communications

I have 2 jobs, and apply for scholarships to try to make it work, and take every opportunity I can. With perseverance I know I can make it, and do all of the things my younger self always dreamed of.

Ava Harris

Major:

Interactive Media and Game Design

After I got the MRI done, I was sitting in a room with my mom when the doctor came in looking distraught and she proceeded to tell me I have breast cancer in stage 1B with a small tumor.

Asia Baker

Major:

Business Administration

I never let the limitations deter me from my dreams. My senior year, I saved as much money as I could, even leaving school on my lunch break to work for that hour.

Shanice Dixon

Major:

Political Science with minor in Public Policy

I do, but I think I would be doing a disservice to myself and others if I did not use the resources I was granted to pay it forward and help those in need the same way I was.

Diana Handl Choi

Major:

Business and Public Policy

My mother is undergoing chemotherapy. My immigrant father who provides for 5, is working in construction. While I watch my father and mother struggle, I am fighting for social justice and maintaining a 4.0 gpa’