Testimonials
Testimonials
Generations College alum and former adjunct faculty member Claudia Castro was named 40 Under Forty in 2012 as part of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Castro is a graduate of the class of 1993 of Generations College and she majored in Paralegal Studies. She was a teenage mom while at Generations College, but went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola University and her law degree at Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
Hello my name is Alice Bishop, I had been working at a dead end job as a supervisor for security officers for a long time. One day, I had an epiphany and decided to go back to school after being out of school.
I went to Generations on my dad’s recommendation. My aunt is actually a court reporter so they both knew about the school. My dad did his research and saw that it was small and an opportunity for me to be nurtured before going off to a four-year institution.
Generations College has been an incredible turning point in my life – a life that has been particularly fraught with unavoidable hardship and trauma. Being awarded the full-ride single-parent scholarship opened doors I never thought possible.
A little over two years ago, I was pursuing a degree in elementary education with a minor in English at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. One week before I was supposed to move back to Oshkosh after summer break, I made a last-minute decision to change the path.
My name is Briggette Hudson, I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, IL. I was the youngest child of 6 siblings and my parents, Leroy and Lillie Dunlap were average middle-class citizens who worked hard to achieve their American Dream.
I didn’t attend college directly after high school, instead, I decided to enter the workforce. I quickly realized that being just a great hard-working employee was not enough to propel me into an actual career; I needed a stellar secondary education.
Generations College has been an incredible turning point in my life – a life that has been particularly fraught with unavoidable hardship and trauma. Being awarded the full-ride single-parent scholarship opened doors I never thought possible.
I want to graduate top of my court reporting class, before working for an agency to get experience in the field. I then aim to go freelance and continue to get professional certifications because I want to keep learning and improving.
I am a 1976 graduate of the Court Reporting Program, a fantastic program with knowledgeable and experienced teachers that prepared me well for this career. I have worked for some of the biggest and best agencies in the city and country and have been involved in groundbreaking cases.
Kathy Cortopassi graduated in 1984 from Generations College with her degree in Court Reporting. When she enrolled at Generations, she became pregnant with her first child in September and had to go on welfare while pursuing her education.
While at Generations, Charles Dowden took night classes in Business Administration and worked full-time during the day. The flexibility of the course scheduling at Generations allowed him to continue working while enrolled. Because of his excellent academic performance while at Generations, he was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honors society.
My aspiration is to become all that I can be. I’m interested in growing and developing businesses as well as individuals. Being a part of the BA program, and being part of the Generations family, I have grown to see that business is more than just building a big company.
I want to become a paralegal specializing in civil litigation. Lately, I have been considering attending law school to become an attorney after gaining experience in the field. It is not uncommon for a paralegal to work in a certain area of the law, learn about it, and see whether they like it or not.
My ambition is to become a parole officer. I want to help my community and help people make better choices. I have wanted to be a parole officer since I was in high school. The faculty and staff at Generations are passionate about teaching.
Layli Phillips graduated from Generations College in 1994 with her degree in Court Reporting and soon after graduating passed her license exam. She worked for a while as a court reporter, then life happened and she had to leave the profession for a few years.
Everybody that teaches here not only has multiple degrees in their profession but also have relevant industry experience that they can share with you. If you live in the city, Generations is not hard to find – you can take the bus or two trains – if doesn’t make a difference because we are right here in the middle of the Loop.
I want to go into captioning because it is important for the hearing impaired to be aware of what is going on around them. Sign language is something that I have always wanted to learn, and I feel like captioning falls into that. Generations is a very positive environment.
I have been a court reporter for 22 years and love every minute of this great profession! I not only work as an independent contractor but also work at Jensen Litigation Solutions in the office. I get the best of both worlds! I am an alumna of Generations College and also serve on their Advisory Board for Court Reporting.
I graduated from the Business Administration and Entrepreneurship Program in the summer of 2015 and I am currently the Outreach Coordinator for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. What I enjoyed the most was that the professors actually had experience in their field and I found that to be extremely valuable.
During my time at Generations, I took two other programs besides Court Reporting because once I got to Generations, I realized that they had a very strong business department and it’s a fact that a lot of court reporters do go on to start their own firms and agencies.
I was actually originally sitting in jury duty, and I was fascinated by the court reporter. I have always enjoyed doing things where I use my fingers – I like playing piano and I can type pretty fast – so I was like maybe that is something that I can look into.
I plan to work as a paralegal for five years before I move on to law school. I am aiming for Northwestern Law because I know it is one of the best in the country. When I came to Generations I loved it immediately. The staff members are amazing, and I knew that I would get the help I needed.
I want to be a court reporter in criminal court, and also provide closed captioning for TV; I would love to do this for the CUBS, as well as for live news. Generations is in a good location downtown. I’m originally from down south and have always wanted to live in Chicago.