Yvette

“The best way to learn is doing it with other people… I wouldn’t have made it without those friendships and going out of my way to communicate with people. I encourage everyone to have at least one person in each class who you can ask for help. ”

Yvette graduated with a degree in elementary education in 2024 and is now studying urban education at UIC. Yvette originally planned to go into accounting but found that her passion led her to education. She now feels extremely motivated to be a teacher to help other first-generation students like herself. Although she wasn’t originally sure college was for her, it now feels like a perfect fit, even when she has to make sacrifices to prioritize school. She highly recommends that students get to know their peers in class and attend club events to build community on campus.

Topics Addressed

(All timestamps are linked in the YouTube comments.)

• 00:00 Intro and background

• 01:58 Picking a major

• 03:37 Biggest obstacle

• 04:47 A time you wish you asked for help

• 06:06 A sacrifice you had to make for school

• 07:08 A moment of doubt

• 08:06 What resources did you use?

• 08:27 Benefit of participating in clubs

• 10:03 Using advising

• 11:16 Building community and making friends

• 14:16 Study strategies

• 16:03 What is Chegg?

• 16:37 Taking notes in class

• 17:54 How do you define success?

• 18:37 What is the purpose of a college education?

• 20:32 Best thing about the City Colleges

• 21:46 Thoughts on AI

• 23:26 Using AI to learn