Volunteer Spotlight: Jessica Bearden

Jessica Bearden was born in South Carolina and moved to Texas at the age of 5 where she stayed through high school. She is from a south Texas town named McAllen just 10 minutes from the Mexican border. She was very active as a kid, playing soccer and tennis mostly, but also volleyball, softball, and track and field. Much of her free time as a teenager was spent practicing for, training for, and participating in organized sports. She is still very active to this day.

Volunteer Spotlight: Melanie Munsey

Melanie Munsey grew up on the East Coast but has spent the majority of her life in Illinois. She went to middle and high school in McHenry and she has lived in Chicago for the past six years. As a kid, she always liked school, especially history, reading, and writing. Her dad is a retired naval officer, so her family moved around a lot when she was young. She switched schools often, which was always an adjustment, but she always tried to look at the bright side of things: “I got to meet a lot of new people.”

Volunteer Spotlight: David Kim

Wednesday night mentor David Kim (right) is a lifelong resident of Illinois. He was born in Rogers Park, grew up in Skokie, and attended college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a child, he was very shy, quiet, and studious. It was not until college that David became extroverted. He suggests moving out on your own to a campus environment after high school. “It is on your own that you learn to mature socially,” he says. “You develop as a person, begin to relate with others, and make lots of new friends.” David says that living on his own in college helped him break out of his shell and build self-confidence.

Volunteer Spotlight: Gabe Chapman

Gabriel (“Gabe”) Chapman moved around a lot as a child, but he was born in Atlanta, Georgia and went to high school and college there. Atlanta is a "sprawling city" at the "foothills of the Appalachian Mountains." When Gabe thinks of Atlanta, he thinks of “trees… peaches… music!” You can tell he’s passionate about music as he rattles off all the bands from Atlanta: Indigo Girls, The B-52s, R.E.M., Collective Soul, Outkast, Ludacris, and Usher. Not bad! Gabe is an amateur musician who recently performed guitar at “Cabrini’s Got Talent!”

Volunteer Spotlight: Natalie Durda

First year mentor Natalie Durda was born in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. “Things move a little bit slower [in Minnesota],” she says. “Everyone is really nice,” and even though it is north of Chicago, the winters are not as bad because it is not as windy.

In school she loved English, Spanish, and social studies, and, “Soccer was my sport.” Natalie’s parents instilled a strong work ethic in her, so she has always worked hard. She was already working 20 hours a week in high school!

Volunteer Spotlight: Catherine Mugeria

Catherine Mugeria grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. She says it is a great country with better (than Chicago) weather and beautiful scenery. Her parents still live there while her sister lives in the United Kingdom and her brother lives in Florida.

After high school, Catherine moved to the United States to attend college. She chose DePaul University because it has a good program in her area of interest (math). She ended up graduating with a double major in finance and economics.

What made her undergraduate experience interesting is that Catherine went to school full-time and worked full-time. Because of financial reasons, she had to do this in order to pay her tuition. She worked for GE until she graduated in 2005.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jennifer O'Rourke

First year mentor Jennifer O’Rourke was born in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton. She had a great childhood with her two younger brothers – playing outside a lot and going on road trips. Her favorite trip was a six week excursion out west to see Mount Rushmore, the Redwood Forests, and the Grand Canyon.

“What I love the most is to travel,” says Jennifer. Out of high school, she went to College of DuPage, a community college, for two years. There she was able to study abroad in London and Canterbury, England. After transferring to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she went back to London and also to Australia.

Volunteer Spotlight: Tim and Jessica Minton

Tim and Jessica Minton joined Cabrini Connections in January 2010. (At that point they were engaged, but they have since gotten married. Congratulations!) Tim was born and raised outside of Boston, Mass. He describes it as “the perfect place for a die-hard sports fan,” which he is. He also says Boston is known for aggressive personalities and its fast-paced lifestyle. “You grow up fast,” he says. At the age of 15, Tim moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his dad to attend high school. He went from a diverse, fast-paced city to a non-diverse, Midwestern city. It was a “big shock,” but “the best decision for me,” says Tim.

Volunteer Spotlight: Brian Kamajian

First year mentor Brian Kamajian grew up as a “70s suburban kid” in Skokie, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. He has two brothers, his dad was a school teacher in the city, and his mom was a secretary. His dad was a gym teacher and coach at Kelvyn Park High School for 35 years.

In high school, Brian was a good student who loved math and science (in fact, he craves it). He also wrote for the school newspaper and was the captain of the football team. When you think about what you want to be when you grow up, Brian says it is important to find the things you like to do and the things you are good at; then find a combination of both and do your best at it.

Volunteer Spotlight: Lindsay Devick Richardson

Lindsay Devick Richardson was born in Downers Grove, a western suburb of Chicago, as the youngest of three girls. She went to small elementary and middle schools (about 60 people in each), but she went to a huge high school (600-700 people)! She says high school was a lot of fun, she was big into sports (volleyball, track, and gymnastics), and it was nice to feel a part of something.

Next, Lindsay ventured to a school with more than 20,000 people: The University of Tennessee. “I wanted to try something different than my little bubble,” she says. It took a long time for Lindsay to figure out her major, but eventually she chose journalism. (Read: You don’t have to know what you want to be right now!)

Volunteer Spotlight: Lisa Coy

First year mentor Lisa Coy grew up about an hour south of Chicago in “a small town full of corn and cows.” She stayed there through high school, but had to get away for college. “People stay comfortable. They stay where they know,” she says, “instead of merging out into other places… I wasn’t myself there,” so 10 years ago she moved to Chicago.

“It was really scary,” she says. “I was scared to get lost,” but eventually, getting lost is what introduced her to different parts of the city. “I pushed myself further to explore new things… to see what is out there besides what is in front of me.”

Lisa attended Columbia College Chicago where she majored in Vocal Performance, singing classical blues and jazz music. Again, her explorations of the city were useful. She got to know professional artists around Chicago and started singing at various jazz and blues clubs. She even sang at the Jazz and Blues Festivals over the summer in Grant Park.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jason Tennenbaum

Jason Tennenbaum was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California – and ‘West’ means he was raised close to the beach. He says he loved the outdoor lifestyle and was at the beach all the time. Overall, there were good and bad parts about living in LA, though. “It doesn’t have great city lifestyle,” he reflects. “It’s more suburban… but as a kid, you don’t know the difference.”

As he neared high school graduation, Jason knew he wanted to go to a college on the East Coast. “It was a chance to explore; to try something different,” and when he visited Boston, he fell in love. It has more colleges than any other city in the U.S. and it has the highest percentage of college-aged residents.

Volunteer Spotlight: Shannon Murphy

Shannon Murphy was born in Phoenix, Arizona before moving to the suburbs of Chicago at a young age. She began in Villa Park, Illinois but moved to Lombard in the fourth grade. Interesting fact: she lived in the same subdivision (Butterfield East) as the Iwami family. You may remember Melissa Iwami from the spotlight two weeks ago… she and Shannon went to grade school together and saw each other for the first time in 15 years at this year’s golf benefit!

That is not how Shannon discovered Cabrini Connections, though. It is just a major coincidence. She found out about our program through her old boss whose coworker, Julie Hamilton, is on our Advisory Council… with Melissa’s dad, Bill Iwami. (My mind is blown.) Shannon has been a volunteer for two years now and says it has been “a really good experience.” She works with Crane 11th grader Breonca Hyles on Thursday nights. “Breonca is really, really, really smart,” she says. “I think she has a good future ahead of her.”

Volunteer Spotlight: Charles Wynn

First year mentor Charles Wynn was born in Syracuse, New York, but his family moved to Toledo, Ohio when he was in sixth grade and he had to make all new friends. He was also subject to culture shock because he moved from an all-black neighborhood to one which is predominately white. He says, “It helped me out in life,” though. “It taught me that the world is bigger than your community.”

Charles describes himself as a friendly kid who loved to play sports. He is the youngest of four siblings, which he says was always a pro. “I got everything I needed… [and] there were a lot of mistakes I didn’t have to go through.” But, like most kids, Charles wanted to grow up, and having three older siblings only made the urge stronger.

Volunteer Spotlight: Melissa Iwami

Thursday night Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Iwami (seen here with EL at Martini Madness) was born and raised in Lombard, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. She is an only child and admits, “I always got a lot of my parents’ attention.” She says it was “good and bad,” but she thinks she has a much better relationship with her parents because of it. She loved growing up near a big city and has always been outgoing and talkative. She has relatives in different neighborhoods of the city who exposed her to a lot at a young age.

Volunteer Spotlight: Matt Golden

Wednesday night mentor Matt Golden grew up on the North side of Chicago in the Old Irving neighborhood. He is an only child and his parents still live on the northwest side. Matt says it was great growing up in Chicago because he enjoys the hustle and bustle of a big city. His favorite time of the year is the summer: “Seeing everyone out… going to the beach; to Cubs games… it makes the winters tolerable.”

Volunteer Spotlight: Jeremy Brown

Second year volunteer Jeremy Brown (right, at 2010 Art Festival) grew up in Peoria, Illinois; the sixth largest city in Illinois with a population of over 110,000. He spent the first 23 years of his life there, which means he went to college in the area. Jeremy graduated from Bradley University in 2002 with a degree in Manufacturing Engineering. Bradley is an “awesome, smaller school” with about 5300 undergraduate students. He appreciated its low teacher-to-student ratio because it allowed for more discussion in classes and for him to ask questions.

Volunteer Spotlight: Shuling Yong

Shuling Yong was born and raised on the island nation of Singapore in Southeast Asia. She describes it as “a bustling little city about the size of Chicago,” and since it is near the equator, it feels like summer all year long. Shuling came to the United States three years ago after graduating at the top of her class. She received a scholarship to study anywhere in the world and she chose Northwestern University.

Volunteer Spotlight: Ankit Vadher

Second year volunteer Ankit Vadher (pictured in the thumbnail above) was born and raised in Chicago – the Rogers Park/Ravenswood area – before moving to a northwestern suburb (Wheeling) at age 9. He lives back in the city now, and when asked why he loves Chicago, is almost at a loss for words. “The different neighborhoods… the culture… the people… that friendly Midwestern attitude… there is so much to explore.”

Ankit breezed through high school, graduating in just three years. He regrets the decision now, saying that a full four years of high school helps you truly appreciate what is expected in college. He was not mentally prepared and thus did not take college as seriously as he should have early on.

Nonetheless, Ankit says college was “one of the best experiences of my life.” He graduated from University of Chicago at Illinois (UIC) in 2003 with a double major in finance and information decision systems (IDS). His first job upon graduation was as a bond trader at a proprietary shop.

He traded with partners’ money, so there were no customers per se, and he was able to make trades based on his discretion. All this was done electronically, so he was not on a trading floor, but he was moving plenty of money (millions!). There’s much more to it, so if you are at all interested in stocks and bonds, talk to Ankit!

Now, Ankit works on the other side, for a company that makes trading platforms for traders. He has worked there for five years in three different positions. Currently, he is a relationship manager for all clients in the Midwest.

In his spare time, Ankit likes to work out (especially running), hang out with friends (hosting parties), and cook (“experimentally”). He also loves traveling. “Next stop: Eastern Europe.”

Ankit is South Asian and culture is a big part of his life. He says, from a young age, “it was all about education and schooling.” The expected trajectory for kids is to become a doctor or engineer, get married, and have a family. Job security is very important, which is partly why he is no longer a trader (a job he loved).

At Cabrini Connections, Ankit co-leads Art Club, which meets on Monday nights from 5:30-7pm. They work with pastels, watercolor, pencil… whatever you want! This year they plan to screen-print t-shirts, collaborate with Video Club on a photo project, and more. How do you join? Just show up!

Ankit’s advice for students is, “Try to live outside your comfort zone and you will experience a lot more in life.” He also says, “Don’t have expectations. Expectations take the joy out of life.” You are a wise man, Ankit. We appreciate your service.

Volunteer Spotlight: Kiera Kelly

Kiera Kelly has been mentoring Marquita Fisher for six years! – first at Cabrini Green Tutoring Program, and, for the last four years, at Cabrini Connections. She is originally from Evanston, Illinois, so she has lived in the Chicagoland area for most of her life. She likes Evanston because it is economically and racially diverse which provided her with a “real-life snapshot” growing up. In Evanston, there is only one public high school – it’s good and it’s huge – but it brings lots of different people together.