As a recent graduate at UIC, I have had much time to reflect on my college career. During my time I experienced many rigorous classes or scholarship applications, all of which are difficult to pass or apply to, but luckily I had the help of three individuals at LARES. Thank you to Terry, through his patience of helping me with my math classes I was able to receive good grades and finish my required math courses my Freshman year. Thank you to Jose, through his help and techniques I was able to understand Organic Chemistry, a course many of us Pre-Medicine students dread to take. Last, but not least, thank you to Mitzi, who is always there to rip my personal statements apart and create an award-winning statement. Every scholarship I apply to, I receive thanks to her advice. Much of my success at UIC is because of these three individuals, who I am grateful to have had and hope many students in the near future have the opportunity to receive the same guidance from them.

Sara Valdivia  |  UIC 2020 Graduate, B.S. in Biological Sciences, B.A. in Spanish

My tutoring experience with CHANCE can be summed up with three words: efficient, effective, and most importantly fun. The CHANCE Program has offered me a plethora of resources that allowed me to maximize my study potential. From the tutors that are willing to re-learn older concepts in order to better explain them, or to the abundant access of free office space where I would have conducted my “Study powwows”, the office has always made it easy for me to find a quiet place to study. As for my personal experience, the Chemistry Tutoring from Jessica Aboagye has been more than helpful, due to her understanding and limitless amount of patience I was able to pass the class with a B. I was also able to get a better understanding of planning for the next semester due to Alicia Sawyer, she was able to answer ALL of my overwhelming amount of questions.

Ramiro Maldonado  |  CHANCE Scholar, Sophomore, Applied Health Sciences

I’ve been attending MSLC from intermediate math to introduction to advance mathematics. Going to the MSLC has taught me that there are many perspectives on solving math problems. We can be taught one way in lecture that might be hard for us and learn a different method that is easier for us at MSLC.

Sanjuana Rangel-Garcia  |  College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Each time I walked away from ASAP I felt more confident and capable in myself and the course material. I learned to come prepared with specific questions and even sometimes tell my tutor beforehand what I wanted to cover later that week. The tutors were always prepared, either knowing the answer, or briefly looking at notes before providing an explanation. I am encouraged and motivated by ASAP – the tutors and the community. I specifically appreciated them engaging models and drawings into our conversations and explanations. I valued how the tutors assisted me in drawings and filled gaps in my explanations (vs them doing all the talking and me just listening). ASAP also gave great study strategies! ASAP was both academically and socially supportive.

Janaki Patel  |  B.S. 2020, Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Health Sciences