Summer of a Lifetime: Exploring College at Pritzker College Prep

Image has two background photos of Pritzker College Prep students on their Summer of A Lifetime trip with their friends. On top of the two photos is a blue transparent background. On top of that, in the bottom left corner, is blue text on a yellow background that reads "Exploring College at Pritzker College Prep". The Noble Schools logo is in the bottom right corner.
Published On: January 27th, 2023Categories: 2023, Campus Life, College at Noble, Pritzker College Prep, Students

This is part of a series of blogs from Noble campus representatives to give a deeper look at campus life.

It’s that time of year when the weather is cold and dreary, when our seniors are pushing through their last few months till they graduate, and when our sophomores are thinking more than ever about college. So, in other terms, it’s a perfect time to talk about summer and college – or Noble Schools’ Summer of A Lifetime (SOL) program!

If you haven’t heard of it, the Summer of a Lifetime program supports hundreds of high-achieving, low-income students from across Noble to participate in summer academic enrichment programs at colleges and universities nationwide. This program is proven to forever influence the trajectory of our students’ lives.

Our data show that Summer of A Lifetime alumni are graduating college at a 60% higher rate than the national average of all Americans, and 5X the rate of low-income students nationally. For many students who take part, the SOL experience is full of “firsts,” and as a result, they return with a deeper understanding of who they are, as well as more confidence and focus to thrive in high school and get ready for college. For both the student and their family, the experience of attending college becomes a reality rather than simply a concept. After their SOL experience, participants are asking themselves “when” rather than “if” they will attend college.

At Pritzker College Prep, we just finished the SOL application process for this year. Our next step is to go through the applications and match our sophomores to a school/program based on their career interests. Noble fundraises all the money needed to send our students off to college over the summer with zero to little cost. This year, we are projected to send our 10,000th student off to Summer of a Lifetime!

Are You A Noble Alum or Staff Member?

Join us for a fun evening of celebration to help support the Summer of A Lifetime program!

Graphic has a big yellow college pendant in the top left corner that reads “Taste of College” in a dark blue font color. In the top right corner, there is white text with the date for the event: “Friday, March 3rd, 2023”. Underneath that is a yellow line and then white text with the location and time for the event: “Lacuna Lofts, 2150 S. Canalport Ave, Chicago, IL, 6 pm”. At the bottom, there is a grungy spraypaint-styled yellow box that has dark blue text on top of it that reads “Open bar, dinner, dancing, DJs, games and more!”. Underneath that, there is white text that reads “With your help, we will send our 10,000th student on Summer of A Liftetime this year!”. The background is a dark blue gradient with yellow confetti raining down from the top.

Early bird registration ends on Feb 10! Open to Noble alumni and staff only. Get your tickets now:

If you’re curious about how Pritzker College Prep students have been impacted by the Summer of A Lifetime program, look no further than these two stories from juniors Jennifer Salinas and Xitlally Estanquero Llamas:

Photo shows a headshot of Jennifer Salinas, a junior at Pritzker College Prep who took part in Noble Schools' Summer of A Lifetime program.

JENNIFER SALINAS

Jennifer attended Boston College last summer and took a course in Business Leadership. While there, she worked on a group project with her classmates about creating a business plan as well as its logo design. She said she also met some new friends as well from different parts of the States.

Photo shows Pritzker College Prep student Jennifer Salinas with her friends at a college enrichment program at Boston College.

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Jennifer (left) with her friends at Boston College.

She said the hardest adjustments was being homesick and the time zone change.

Overall, this Summer of A Lifetime opportunity helped Jennifer decide that she wants to go to school for Business Finance. She learned in school that business has many different aspects, but the one that interested her most was the finance part of it.

Photo shows a headshot of Xitlally Estanquero Llamas, a junior at Pritzker College Prep.

XITLALLY ESTANQUERO LLAMAS

Xitlally attended Harvard University last summer and took a Neuropsychology course.

“The most interesting thing I learned was that people with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) can have different medical conditions, one alter* can have diabetes while the rest do not,” Xitally said, “Topics that intimidated me were having full knowledge of the brain and knowing each part of it. I dealt with this intimidation by asking questions and doing my own research. I am excited to learn about past traumas and how they affect the future of the victim.”

Xitlally was homesick at first, she said, but she realized she would be just fine without her family for a few weeks and quickly made new friends!

*Alternate personalities

Photo shows Pritzker College Prep student Xitlally Estanquero Llamas with her friends at Harvard University.

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Xitlally (second from right, middle row) with her friends at Harvard University.

Xitlally said that her Summer of A Lifetime experience helped her conclude that she has great time management skills, will be ok living away from home, and can have fun experiences with friends!

Interested in learning more about Summer of A Lifetime? Click here.

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