Belonging in Tech

When I first came to UIC, I was worried that I was different from other students.  Everyone seemed so sure that it was the right place for them and they all seemed so happy here. I wasn’t sure I fit in. Sometime after my freshman year, I realized that many people who come to UIC are unsure about whether they fit in. Looking back, it seems funny to me -- now I know that everybody feels different from everybody else when they start here. At least in some ways, we all face pretty similar challenges. Since I realized this, I am more comfortable at UIC and I’ve been able to fully enjoy what life has to offer here. 

          -Participant #19, Black male, age 20

I love being at UIC and I wouldn't change my experiences here for anything. But it wasn’t always that way. It was exciting to be independent and to live on my own but I also had to learn to take responsibility for my own education. Early on, I procrastinated more than I ever had before, and I got some bad grades. It was really upsetting. But as time moved on it got better. I started asking some other students in my classes if they wanted to study together. Turns out, we were all in the same boat trying to balance our new freedom with working hard and doing well in class. Now, some of those early study buddies have become some of my closest friends at UIC. We help each other stay on track, plan out our study schedules together, and make sure no one gets left behind. It took time, but I’ve found a supportive community here. Today I feel happier at UIC than I ever have before. It feels great to know that people at UIC have your back.

          -Participant #39, Latino female, age 23

As excited as I was to come to UIC, I knew that money would always be a struggle for me. My parents make enough money that I don’t qualify much for grants, but my family’s finances are tight so funding my education is pretty much up to me. Taking a part-time job and assuming lots of debt was -- and sometimes still is -- overwhelming. Freshmen year I sometimes felt I missed out because I didn’t have the money to go out that much. As I got older, I realized that almost everyone has to manage a job and school and this doesn’t mean you can’t have a life. I ended up making some friends in classes and in a club I joined and even at one of my jobs. The bottom line is that we’re all in this together and everyone faces obstacles, but with time you make friends along the way.

          -Participant #103, White female, age 21

Being religious, I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb when I started at UIC. Also, I live at home and commute to school, so I worried I wouldn’t make friends or feel connected to campus. To be honest, I felt really lonely sometimes. I didn’t know anybody. I would walk between classes and not have anyone to talk to and I wondered whether things would ever change. But instead of just worrying so much, I decided to join some groups and clubs I was interested in. It took time, but in the end I made some good friends in these groups, people I share interests with. UIC is so diverse. You just need to find your niche. As with any major adjustment in life, I learned you just need time to find the right people. Now I feel as close to my friends in college as I did to my friends from high school.

          -Participant #182, White male, age 24

The transition from small high school classes to large lectures at UIC was particularly difficult for me. It felt like going from being a big fish in a small pond, to a small fish in an ocean. I felt lost and lonely and overwhelmed with the seemingly enormous campus and student body. I didn’t think I’d ever figure out how to get around. But talking to a girl in my dorm helped tremendously. She felt lost on campus too. So the next day, we went on a field trip to all of our classrooms. It felt so nice to start to learn the campus and to feel like I had an ally. As I got to know more people, I was surprised that almost everyone had the same worries I did. It’s funny looking back, now I know campus so well it feels like a second home. I think that you just have to give things time and they will get better.

          -Participant #84, Black female, age 25 

I am a nontraditional student and for the first few years at UIC I worried that I stood out. I just couldn’t connect with the younger students fresh out of high school and I thought my professors would think I was slow. I found myself avoiding people, which meant I didn’t reach out to other students or professors in or out of class. Over time, though, I realized that that was exactly the wrong strategy. If I was going to connect with other students or professors, I needed to reach out, even if it was uncomfortable at first. So I started talking to people in my classes and going to office hours more. It’s helped me take more control of my experiences at UIC. And I found out my expectations were wrong -- when I reached out, people were excited to talk to me and were much nicer and more interested in me than I expected. Because I was more open and relaxed, people started including me in study groups. I’ve now made friends with people I never thought I would get to know. My experiences at UIC have been so rewarding and it’s all because I stepped out of my comfort zone and reached out even when it was hard.

          -Participant #20, Latino male, 29

I’ve always had to commute 2 hours each way to UIC. It’s been hard to make friends and be involved on campus, and sometimes I envy students who live closer. Studying is difficult -- especially when I get home late after a long day of classes. What made a difference to me was that I found the UIC commuter resource center. There, I met a lot of UIC students who are commuters, so we share some similar struggles and challenges. Over time, I learned to use the long commute productively -- keeping busy and doing work for class. It took time to figure out the best routes, but now I’ve got it down. Eventually I also found other people who take the same route as I do, and the three of us have sort of developed our own little commuter family. We’ve even started taking some classes together. It’s great to know I have friends I can hang out with on campus and on that long CTA ride home.

          -Participant #76, Asian female, 22

I had a small close-knit group of friends in community college, so transferring to UIC where I didn’t know anybody seemed scary at first. But the truth is, feeling uncertain is normal for this transition. We’re all new at going to college, and no one knows what the right thing to do or say is -- everyone is awkward. Most people at UIC don’t have friends at first. After a while, my concerns about fitting in and doing well slowly went away. Whenever you start to feel a little worried, just remind yourself that every major life transition comes with some uneasiness, and in time you’ll find your place at UIC.

          -Participant #33, Asian male, age 21

Freshman year was a learning experience for me. I was unprepared for challenging college courses and I was intimidated by the professors and TAs. The first day of classes, I sat in a huge lecture hall with hundreds of students and to be honest, I just felt like a number. After getting a few bad grades and feeling stressed out in the process I worried that I wasn’t smart enough. Fortunately, a conversation with a family friend helped me to see that I needed to change my study habits and seek extra help. There was one class that I was really struggling with, so I decided to make the effort to meet with that professor during her office hours. She told me that sometimes at UIC professors grade harshly or are critical not because they think you can’t do it but because they want to push students to do their best. She told me that if I worked hard, I could get a good grade and that helped me feel confident that I could do well. Since then, things have gotten a lot better. I learned to reach out to professors and other students when I need help. We’re all in this together, and people at UIC push you to learn and grow.  Although I still have my ups and downs, I am proud of the successes I have had.

          -Participant #101, Middle Eastern male, age 23