Announcing NLU's 2022 Commencement Student Speakers
Ayana Dickens will speak at NLU's 2022 Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, June 25, and Jacqueline Contreras will speak at the Leadership and Honors Ceremony on Thursday, June 23.
NLU Commencement Ceremony Student Speaker, Ayana Dickens
Ayana Dickens is a M.A.T graduate, born and raised on the West Side of Chicago. During her early years, Ayana had trouble adjusting to school, so she was labeled “difficult.” Ayana transferred several times before landing at Washington Irving, which she credits as the “school that changed her life.” Had it not been for her preschool teacher, Ms. Heather, she would’ve never desired to join the field of education to become a teacher. From that day forward, she stopped at nothing to achieve her dream, regardless of the obstacles that came her way.
In June 2005, Ayana’s father became a victim of gun violence. It was then that Ayana realized that no one in her family could help anyone with math homework, as that was always her dad’s job. Ayana’s father had a natural gift in math, as did she. So, at age 8, Ayana stepped up to the plate by becoming a math tutor, with her first pupil being her younger brother.
Ayana graduated from Whitney Young Magnet High School at the top of her class and began her collegiate journey at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. During her sophomore year, Ayana taught a Health 100 class full of first-year college students and co-founded a health-science teaching program a year later, where Emory students taught health classes to low-income schools in Atlanta. Wishing to do even more for her community, Ayana applied to work for Teach for America. Shortly after, Ayana became a 2020 Corps Member for the Chicago-Northwest Indiana region, where she sought to teach Early Childhood Education.
After completing her degree in Theater Studies and Philosophy at Emory University, Ayana returned home and served as a teacher in Bronzeville. However, she didn’t anticipate that she’d have to do so during a pandemic. Despite the little training and preparation she received, Ayana rose to the occasion and did everything she could for her class because her students deserved the world and were the ones who needed her the most.
Ayana will continue her educational journey as a kindergarten teacher in Nanjing, China. Ayana also plans on applying to different collegiate programs to earn her doctoral degree in education. When Ayana isn’t crushing her professional and personal goals, she can be caught playing video games, biking, or traveling the world.
Leadership and Honors Ceremony Student Speaker, Jacqueline Contreras
Jacqueline Contreras is a First Time Freshman Undergraduate student who was raised in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Jacqueline grew up in the suburbs and learned the English language in her first couple years of school. She continued her education and attended Rolling Meadows High School where many of her teachers and mentors challenged her to begin thinking of what her passions were in life and how she would use them in her future career. Jacqueline saw a lot of need for professional emotional support in her family growing up and quickly realized that she wanted to be that help for people and more specifically for minorities in her community.
Jacqueline finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and obtained a minor in Children and Family studies in December of 2021. She is currently working for National Louis University as an Outreach and Enrollment Specialist for the First Time Freshman Undergraduate College where she hopes to work with students from various high schools and help them get on track to attending a higher education institution after high school. She wishes to continue her own education as well and wants to obtain her Master’s degree in School Psychology in the next couple years.
Jacqueline has left a significant mark on National Louis University as she has excelled academically and professionally. She maintained a 4.00 GPA all through her time at National Louis University all while holding a full-time position in the admissions department and participated in her internship with elementary education students at Outreach Community Ministries in Villa Park, Illinois. Here she mentored approximately 15 children when classes resumed after the pandemic and worked with their teachers to connect them to their classes, finish missing work, and reconnect with their peers after being away from them for so long.
Jacqueline wishes to continue to make her mark in higher education and later work in a high school setting and be able to provide emotional and mental health support to students undergoing hardships in their lives to help them be successful both academically and emotionally. She also wishes to continue being the best daughter, sister, girlfriend, student, and friend that she can be. She recognizes that without all of her support system she could not be where she is right now and would not be able to continue striving for more in the future. So she thanks all of you and encourages you to continue fighting for your dreams and aspirations!
