Recent high school graduate and local resident Amy Wu is on her way into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s prestigious, top-ranked engineering program. Wu, an immigrant from China who moved to the area in 2015, is the first student from Back of the Yards College Prep High School to be directly accepted into the program, as well as the first such student from the Bottom Line organization, which she credits with providing key support for her college ambitions.
“I’m looking forward to college because I know I’ll be able to learn a lot," Wu said, even though her studies continue to keep her far away from her parents, who live 8,000 miles away in Zuhai, China. Wu, who resides with her aunt and uncle on the border of the Brighton Park and McKinley Park neighborhoods, credited the area for being very accommodating to new Chinese immigrants, both because of the existing Chinese and Chinese-American population here and for the opportunity to connect with those of other cultures.
Wu's success, including her 3.95 grade point average, has been hard-earned. “What impresses me most about Amy, outside of her academic achievements, is simply the determination and follow-through she has had to succeed in engineering in college,” said Adam Lindemulder, Wu's counselor from Bottom Line. "She has been determined to succeed even while her parents are thousands of miles away in China."
In addition to her focus on academics at high school, Wu has served as an unofficial teacher's assistant in calculus class and studied in summer engineering programs at Notre Dame and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Wu said the help she received from Bottom Line was essential for navigating the college application process, and included narrowing down college selection, filling out college applications and getting editing and feedback on scholarship essays.
Bottom Line is a Boston-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to help low-income, first-generation students get into college, graduate from college and establish fruitful, meaningful lives and careers. Over 1,000 Chicago students received help this year from the group's Chicago office, and it boasts over a 90 percent college persistence rate. However, its local wait list remains jam-packed at 500 students.
Bottom Line will continue to support and interface with Wu throughout her post-secondary academic career, Lindemulder said, one of the services it offers the students in its program.
Wu said that although she isn't yet sure exactly which career path an engineering discipline will take her, she loves studying and living in the United States. “Being here is the best fit for me.”
In addition to the neighborhood's welcoming population, Wu noted her appreciation of the parks and library, where she would study and relax with friends and relatives. "I also really appreciate the location of the neighborhood," she said. "The transportation is convenient whether going to school or downtown."
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