Yidedya Kedir

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the U.S., Yidedya Kedir was more than 7,000 miles away from her home in Ethiopia. At the time, she was attending a boarding school in Wisconsin—an opportunity she’d spent her childhood years dreaming about.

Yidedya had hoped that attending the school would provide her with a “short cut” to college by allowing her to take dual enrollment courses. However, when the virus started spreading in early 2020, her only option was to leave her dorm in Wisconsin and move to Chicago to live with her aunt in Humboldt Park.

Yidedya enrolled at Nicholas Senn High School, a CPS school, for her senior year and attended classes virtually the entire time.

“For so many of us, it was hard,” she said. “But my teachers and counselors supported me with resources and helped me graduate.”

In fact, Yidedya’s counselor introduced her to the Star Scholarship at City Colleges, which would allow her to attend her first two years of college tuition free. Additionally, she let Yidedya know about the new Summer Start program that lets CPS grads get a jump start on their college journey.

Through Summer Start, Yidedya took a free English 101 course the summer before her first semester at CCC that she says gave her a “heads up” on what college would be like. Beyond the classroom aspect, Yidedya was also able get support from City Colleges advisors throughout the summer, who helped with everything from picking classes to obtaining books.

“I never thought one class could help me this much,” she said.

Now, Yidedya is putting the knowledge and resources she gained during Summer Start to use as a student at Harold Washington College. A member of the Black Student Union, she’s enjoying the opportunity to meet new people on campus and explore her interests.

“The energy at Harold Washington is great,” she said. “Everyone here is focused on achieving their goals.”

For Yidedya, those goals include transferring to a four-year university once she’s earned her associate degree. She wants to earn her bachelor’s degree in international affairs and then hopes to manage a nonprofit organization or become an interpreter. The 18-year-old already speaks three languages—English, French, and Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.

Regardless of the language, there’s one topic that Yidedya says she’s happy to discuss—the Star Scholarship.

“I could talk about the Star Scholarship for hours,” she said.

Through Star and Summer Start, it turns out Yidedya was able to find her “short cut” to college after all.