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The stories of the journey

Schuler has helped more than 1,400 first-generation students, students of color, and low-income students in Chicago on their path to college and career. This is how they learn and grow with the program and how they use the Scholar skills of resilience, self-confidence, and intellectual curiosity to succeed.

“I’m excited to start my own path,” she said. “All my hard work has finally paid off.”

Jayla Wheeler creates her own path to college

As an undocumented immigrant, Padilla says in the film that she finds the term hurtful, dehumanizing and damaging to a community.

"Change the Subject" documentary stresses that words matter

"I was the beneficiary of a ton of support. I was the most-privileged underprivileged kid," Topiltzin says.

Gomez Brothers's Story Gains Widespread Coverage
Meet the scholars, celebrate the milestones

Alumni Scholars are the leaders of the future. They become doctors, Fulbright Scholars, aeronautical engineers, teachers, social workers, environmental activists, librarians, and more. Some Scholars pursue post-graduate degrees while others have gone on to work for places like Microsoft and Google, the U.S. Attorney’s office, local government, Chicagoland schools, and universities around the country. Whatever their aspirations, our Scholars have the drive, the discipline, and the skills to achieve everything they set out to do.

“So much of what we do begins with helping Schuler Scholars commit to the effort to get accepted into top colleges. From there you want them to believe that it will happen.”

“Often, a Scholar drops by our office who’s now a surgeon or a lawyer or an entrepreneur. It’s incredibly gratifying to hear their stories of success.”

Jack's Commitment to Education

“I majored in economics and French and I never would have guessed how much a French degree would help. Being able to articulate ideas well, it's such a strong skill, from my French degree.”

Connecting learning and career

“We want to give them a sense of their accomplishment, in this rite of passage.”

Be part of the celebration

“To be able to connect with people, exposures have been really important in building my skills.”

How exposures help students

“We start working with students before they go to high school, to kick off their Schuler career. We put barriers in front of them. They think they can’t do it, but they can and do.”

Why the camp experience matters