Glen Ellyn, Illinois--(Newsfile Corp. - May 20, 2024) - Lourdez Ardila of Warrenville and Stephanie Chávez of Glendale Heights are the 2024 Outstanding Graduates at College of DuPage.
After earning an Associate in Arts, Ardila is transferring to Aurora University to major in industrial organizational psychology. Chávez, also earning an Associate in Arts, is majoring in secondary social science education at Elmhurst University.
The Outstanding Graduate finalists are Ty Giordano (Wheaton), Lindsey Gottardo (Lemont), Celina Gregor (Clarendon Hills), Rosemary Montalbano (Naperville), Ayesha Shafiuddin (Carol Stream), John Tolle (Elmhurst) and Matthew Van Duyn (Wheaton).
Learn more about the outstanding graduate finalists.
When Ardila first attended COD after high school, she was excited about the future, unaware of the reality that would derail her plans for several years.
"While taking my first classes, I began a fight for my life after being blindsided by a diagnosis of severe Crohn's disease," she said. "However, this became my greatest motivator, driving me to not only get better but also accomplish my dream of earning a degree."
Her first semester back was taken online during the pandemic, and she decided to fully commit to her studies, earning all A's. As students returned to in-person learning, Ardila initially remained remote due to her autoimmune disease.
Once she came back to campus, she knew COD was the right place for her. Ardila immersed herself in campus life, being named an Honors Scholar, becoming an appointed officer of the Psi Beta Psychology Club and being a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the latter presenting her with multiple research opportunities.
"Under the mentorship of Professors Ken Grey, Joseph DalSanto, Brian Brown and Bonnie Loder, I have been able to conduct my own individual research in different fields including psychology, astronomy, philosophy/ethics and language," she said, "These research projects, completed outside of the curriculum of the courses, are something I could not be more grateful for as they introduced me to my love for research and data analysis."
Ardila received the annual Honors Transfer Scholarship to Aurora University, where she hopes to earn both bachelor's and master's degrees and pursue a career in human resources or as a data analyst.
"I exceeded my own expectations, discovering my passion for psychology and proving to myself that I can obtain all I felt I lost. I dreamt of achieving a 4.0 GPA for my associate degree, for which I am very proud to have obtained, and I'm honored to be a member of Phi Theta Kappa. I went from hard times and adversity to being named an outstanding graduate. This shows that any student wanting to learn can succeed at College of DuPage."
As the youngest of five and a first-generation college student, Chávez is grateful for the opportunities she has received.
"My parents stopped their educations in the fourth and sixth grades in order to migrate from Mexico to the U.S. to escape poverty," she said. "They had four kids that they raised in Chicago and did everything they could to keep my siblings safe. But the neighborhood in which they lived set my siblings up for failure."
College was not a given for Chávez, but academics became her priority when her parents moved to the suburbs. She excelled in high school and wanted to become a teacher. But after struggling during her senior year with a social studies course focusing on U.S. government and policy, Chávez began to doubt her dream when she enrolled at COD.
"At my core I needed to be a teacher, but I let outside voices say that I would be better in other professions, so I was unsure of what to do," she said. "I decided to take one education course my first semester to see if it was right for me. My professor was April Zawlocki, and she helped me realize that it was."
Chávez immediately became a member of the Aspiring Educators Club. She served as an officer that same semester and later was president for two semesters. Her hard work resulted in being recognized by Student Life as COD's Emerging Leader of the Year. Continuing her path toward becoming an educator, she was elected as the communications coordinator and, most recently, as chairperson for the Illinois Education Association Aspiring Educators, a branch of the largest teacher's union in the state.
Chávez plans to become a high school social studies teacher, the subject that she once struggled with in high school. As for COD, Chávez said the College set her up for success.
"College of DuPage challenged me in the best ways possible while also supporting me unconditionally," she said. "Every course I took and every resource I used was a constant reminder that I made the right decision attending COD."
College of DuPage will hold its 57th annual Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 17, at 7 p.m. It will be available to view on the College's Facebook page and website. Find out more about Commencement.
Stephanie Chávez (left) of Glendale Heights and Lourdez Ardila of Warrenville and are the 2024 Outstanding Graduates at College of DuPage.
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Contact: Brian Kleemann
kleeman@cod.edu
(630) 942-2370
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