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KewonteThomas and Scott Wilkin

Kewonte Thomas, a freshman seeking to major in Mechanical Engineering, and Scott Wilkin, Associate Director at National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and Senior Adviser at Applied Research Institute (ARI), were paired through the Illinois Promise mentorship program this past fall.  

 

Scott and Kewonte share a special relationship. While sitting together for the interview, the strong bond was palpable, feeding off each other's energy and adding to each other's comments and stories. Scott is proud to "look at Kewonte as if he is one of my [his] own kids and ensure that he is both happy and successful in all aspects of his life" while  

Kewonte is happy to have a role model on campus pushing him to realize his academic and personal potential.  

 

The Illinois Promise mentorship program is a mutually beneficial experience for the two. Scott and Kewonte meet once or twice a week to connect and share their life happenings. Kewonte noted that Scott is "not only a friend to me, but a relative. He reminds me of an older brother or uncle". Kewonte has met Scott's family and provided Scott the insight into what kids are interested in nowadays and the obstacles they may face throughout their college careers and home lives. They are from two different cities and cultures- Scott grew up outside of Monticello on his family farm while Kewonte was born and raised in Chicago. Both believe that the act of sharing their life experiences with each other makes them better people.  

 

Scott's pride in Kewonte's accomplishments is evident. Kewonte produced a video upon high school graduation that focuses on the affects advertising and social media profiling has on society. Specifically, how media utilizes the average teen to get messages across to other people, negatively stereotyping African American teens. Kewonte's success was shared with the nation and with the help of his teacher will be featured at a film festival at the University of Pennsylvania.  

 

Aside from supporting each other, they participate in a wide variety of activities ranging from visiting different restaurants, hanging out with Scott's children and playing the guitar together. Out of all of their adventures, Scott is most fond of having Kewonte visiting his farm and meeting his family and looks forward to meeting Kewonte's mother in the future.  

 

Scott and Kewonte hope that all members involved in the Illinois Promise mentorship program share a relationship similar to theirs. Scott advices mentors to be themselves and enjoy the time and experiences shared with their mentees while Kewonte stressed the importance of taking the opportunity to learn from others.

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Seniors participating in the "Senior Showcase" pictured with Chancellor Wise at the I-Promise Senior Reception held April 10th.

I-Promise mentors and mentees participating in an end-of-year reception at Memorial Stadium on April 26th.

I-Promise scholars and friends enjoying the annual BBQ at Illini Grove on April 29th.

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Jenny Aguayo

Jenny Aguayo is currently a junior majoring in Community Health here at Illinois who aspires to pursue a career in higher education. Like many Illinois Promise Scholars, Jenny wished to study abroad during her time on campus but faced the challenge of financial instability. Jenny's intrinsic motivation and determination paved the way to spending her 2014 spring semester in Granada, Spain. With the assistance of the Illinois Promise Scholarship, I4I Scholarship and a subsidized loan, the financial burden was waived and helped her realize her dream of traveling abroad.  

While attending a Language Intensive Institution in Granada, a professor suggested Jenny volunteer at a particular community outreach group that their university shared a partnership with in order to fulfil her required volunteering credit. Jenny spent 8 weeks volunteering at a gypsy community consisting of impoverished youth and adults who resided together in a parish. It was here where Jenny utilized her Spanish to assist fourth graders with homework, present sex ed. workshops to sixth graders and speak to older women about women's health, domestic violence and social issues.  

Jenny enjoyed every aspect of volunteering at the parish, but upon reflection on her favorite memory shared this: "when I asked the group of sixth graders to define what a sexual interaction consisted of, a boy replied, 'Sex is when a man and a woman, or a man and a man, or a woman and a woman share physical interactions'. I was shocked as to how open minded this group of kids were... Their culture was so progressive and changing with the times. It was a profound moment".

After her time spent with this community, Jenny realized she wanted to continue her community outreach volunteerism and applied to become a McNair Scholar. The McNair Scholar Program is under the Office of Minority Student Affairs and is designed to help minorities pursue a PHD. Through this program, Jenny is able to conduct research under her mentor Dr. Nicole Lamers, an International Education Specialist in the college of LAS.  

Jenny will be collecting surveys and interviews with I-Promise students about the obstacles they face when they're deciding whether or not to study abroad. This particular research study will extend up until graduation and is beginning to show the steady increase in studying abroad within the last ten years. However, with this increase comes the stagnant amount of minorities, first generation and low income students who apply and carry out studying abroad. Jenny's main goal is to provide information that will increase I-Promise and minority involvement with study abroad and inspire students to seek out the endless possibilities it can bring. She has experienced first-hand what expanding your horizons can do and encourages all I-Promise Scholars to do the same!

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As a junior within the College of Business, Ricardo Pierre-Louis has an impressive lists of accomplishments as an entrepreneur. The most intriguing aspect of entrepreneurship for Ricardo is meeting like-minded people who are both passionate and working towards solving important issues. For Ricardo, the overarching passion that drives his creations is bicycling.

Ricardo currently has six products and/or services that he has been accredited for helping create with the Neutral Cycle team: Open St., Roadside Assistance, an application for smartphones called SaveTheBike, Big Yellow Bike Riding Service, Speedwagon Coffee Shop and Chambana Bike.

Just one year ago, Ricardo assisted in the formation of an event called Open St. that occurs in Urbana, Illinois. This year, Open St. will occur on June 27 and will consist of various physical fitness activities such as a basketball tournament, yoga sessions and rock climbing. Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from several business sponsors and work alongside government agencies. Ricardo hopes that this annual event will give both Champaign and Urbana residents the opportunity to participate in physical activities while having a good time.

Ricardo Pierre-Louis (center)

Roadside Assistance is a service in which bicyclist can receive bike repairs by a fellow bicyclist on a bike equipped with tools and repair equipment. The idea was born when Ricardo noticed the need for an on-the-go repair service for his fellow peers. For a bicyclist,it is much more efficient to bring the repair shop to the bike rather than carrying it to a shop.

Ricardo's favorite creation is his smartphone application, SaveTheBike, which helps bicyclist track down their stolen bikes. The app was born after one of Ricardo's customers had his customized bike stolen. In a local newspaper, an article entitled, "Neutral Cycle Fights Crime" explains the story. After three months of searching, the customized bike was found incidentally at its place of purchase, Neutral Cycle. The man who had stolen the bike was arrested and served 5 years in prison due to his previous criminal history. Ricardo took this event as a learning opportunity and created an application to help track bicycles. The ultimate goal of Ricardo's app is to reach the capacity of detecting all crimes, not just bike theft.

Currently, Ricardo is working on building and setting up Speedwagon Coffee Shop. The shop is set to open this July and will be a hybrid of specialty coffee drinks and pastries. It will be located at the intersection of Fifth St. and Green St. and Ricardo will fulfil a few different roles within the coffee shop, store manager, coffee barista and janitor while still attending school full time.

Ricardo advises all prospective entrepreneurs to utilize their time wisely. For Ricardo, this consists of waking up every day at 5am and partaking in his morning ritual of reading the daily newspaper and crafting his own coffee brew before arriving at the Neutral Cycle office. Additionally, he stresses the importance of having a small checklist of things-to-do and getting them done every day until it all comes together. He states, "One must have enough conviction to get things done. Success will be sure to follow".

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