Public Housing Teen Goes From Caddy To College-Bound
(CBS) -- First it was a dream. Now, it's reality: Seventy-five Chicago Housing Authority teens are heading to college, with scholarships.
For one high school senior from Humboldt Park, her full ride to the University of Illinois was done through hard work -- on the golf greens.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
"I'm very excited to be going to college in the fall," Julissa Andino says.
Andino applied for the Chick Evans Scholarship. There was a catch: She had to caddy. She knew nothing about golf. She would make the daily trek to North Shore Country Club in Glenview, from her CHA home in Humboldt Park.
"I'm out at the course at 6 o'clock in the morning and I'm the last one to leave at 8 o'clock at night," she says.
At one point, she and her family were homeless. Now, she is the first in her family to go to college.
"She studied hard. She's determined, and she's a real smart girl," says her father, Luis.
Giving inspiration at the "CHA Take Flight College Send Off" is former CHA resident and scholarship recipient Julius Clayborn.
The Cornell graduate now works as a professional recruiter. His message to the college bound?
"I need them to wake up every day. Feet on the ground and ready to tackle everything that will come their way," Clayborn says.
Julissa plans to live by those words.
"My family has always told me to work hard for an education, no matter what, whether we had anything at all, and it's really a big stepping stone for us," she says.
Andino plans to study civil engineering.
