Kaileigh Boggs

Star Scholar sets sights on a career in social work

Kaileigh Boggs, a Star Scholarship recipient, began her journey to further her education at Malcolm X College in 2018. Due to her strong grades at CPS, the scholarship enabled Kaileigh to pursue her degree at no cost, including free tuition and books. Additionally, she was determined to be the first in her family to graduate from college, even with the difficulties of balancing both work and school at the same time.

After attending various prerequisite and elective classes, Kaileigh discovered her passion for social work. She toggled between being a part-time student and a full-time student multiple times in order to successfully finish school and maintain her job, but she never gave up. With the support of the Advising Center at Malcolm X College, she established a plan to make her dream of receiving her associate degree come true.

Kaileigh continued to follow that plan—and, as the end of her college career at City Colleges of Chicago was nearing, she decided that she wanted to go a step further and work towards her bachelor’s degree in social work. The Transfer Center at Malcolm X College assisted her in pursuing this goal by recommending transfer events to attend, helping her apply to scholarships to cover tuition costs, and reaching out to universities through the Transfer Partner Program to find the best fit for her.

After careful consideration and many consultations with her transfer advisor, Natalia Zuniga, Kaileigh began to focus on Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) because of its location, cost, and social work program.

Kaileigh successfully completed her associate degree in the Fall of 2021 and, consequentially, earned a promotion at her job at For Papa’s Sake Home Care to Operations Coordinator. She also successfully transferred to Northeastern Illinois University in Spring 2022 to pursue her goal of becoming a social worker.

Now a student at NEIU, Kaileigh looks forward to achieving her dream, while also pushing her family’s generational boundaries by pursuing her bachelor’s degree.