Suzzette Anderson

Suzzette Anderson grew up in Jamaica but moved to Chicago six years ago. The 49-year-old mother of two started at Olive-Harvey with GED classes. Once that hurdle was cleared, she was encouraged by Gateway staff to take credit classes at the college.

As she worked toward her Associate of Applied Science in Supply Chain Management & Logistics – which she earned in the fall of 2019 – she also landed a job as a part-time supervisor at UPS. This summer, she will transition to a full-time UPS driver, which comes with benefits and the hands-on experience she wants to learn all the ins and outs of the industry.

While at Olive-Harvey College, she was part of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, Alpha Beta Gamma honor society, National Technical Honor Society, and One Million Degrees. Suzzette was also asked to participate in the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program, which comes with a scholarship, and in January of 2019 attended a transportation industry conference in Washington, D.C.

She also made sure to take advantage of the resources she needed, like the Career Center, which helped her polish her resume and helped with clothes for job interviews, and the Transfer Center, where she got assistance with application waivers as she applied to four-year universities.

Suzzette has been named the Olive-Harvey College valedictorian for the 2020 Commencement Ceremony, which will now take place virtually in June due to the pandemic. She is disappointed her children will no longer be able to come from Jamaica to see her deliver her speech in person, but they can watch online with the rest of her family back home. And no matter what, she is proud of what she’s accomplished in just a few short years.

Now she is headed to Chicago State University to continue her studies in logistics in the fall of 2020, and hopes to one day open her own business.