As a rising high school junior, Charles Hendon found himself in a classroom in Cobb Hall among UChicago undergraduates honing his Spanish-speaking skills. Participation in that summer immersion program, and the guidance he received from his professor during that class, helped pave the way to UChicago.
The Chicago native, born and raised on the South Side, is now a third-year in the College majoring in Romance languages.
Why UChicago?
I didn’t know anything about UChicago until high school, but I was fortunate to have really good college counselors—one suggested I apply for one of the Spanish immersion programs offered at the university over the summer. The first day of class, I was scared. I’m 16, 17 years old, and everyone else is an adult. This was a serious, college-level course. It went well though, and after the class, my abilities in Spanish skyrocketed. I was also able to form a really close student-teacher relationship with the professor as well, Verónica Moraga, she is phenomenal. After our oral final that summer I got so overwhelmed, I knew I was going to miss her and the class a lot—and she told me how well I’d done in class and that she hoped to see me back in a few years. Lo and behold, I ended up getting in. She actually wrote me a letter of recommendation to come to UChicago and I still stop by her office to see her.
From those first experiences, I had my eyes set on UChicago. It was a place where I could really see myself growing, and developing as an individual and as an intellectual. Plus, it is right here at home, I feel comfortable.
What is an experience that stands out during your time here?
When I arrived at UChicago, I was very intentional about forming and establishing relationships with Black students. I made that a priority for me and I got involved with the Organization of Black Students (OBS) my first year. I’m currently one of the co-presidents for the organization. Every year during O-Week, we plan Black Convocation. This was the fifth year and the goal is to welcome Black students, tell them that they have a place here, that they have a home here, and that we as upperclassmen are here for them. If they ever need anything, anybody to fall back on anybody they need to ask advice to, they can find refuge with us. OBS plans a lot of community-based events, we really want to get people together and facilitate a family type of environment as best as we can.
UChicago has also connected me to my best friend, Myles Xavier. He was one of the first people I met here and we hit it off immediately. I always have to speak about him when I talk about my experience at UChicago, because he's definitely been a core part of it.