overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
“Odyssey gave me a voice through writing, and for that I am thankful beyond words,” writes alumna René Robinson, Odyssey ’08. In her graduation poem, “My Journey,” René spoke of her discovery of the humanities and becoming a “Google queen,” anxious to find out more about literature, philosophy, and history. She ended her poem with …
Madison 365, October 29, 2020
Related to Patrick Sims’ later Theatre for Cultural and Social Awareness (TCSA) and connected to Kelly’s own work with Odyssey, Kelly saw the class as a path in to higher education for students of color. After he left the UW, Kelly returned year after year to work with the Odyssey Project and its founder and …
In her essay Robinson references the racism that courses through U.S. history, but refuses to cede her connection to the country and her right to participate in its governance. “This is ‘OUR’ country,” she writes. “The ‘United States of America’ belongs to everyone; not just certain individuals. Because of our ancestors, who contributed to ‘OUR’ …
“Odyssey helped me find my voice, that courage I have to speak,” remarked Odyssey alum Corey Saffold at our 2018 “Night of the Living Humanities” fundraiser. In late October of any other year, you might have found Frida Kahlo, Socrates, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Shakespeare sharing refreshments at the University Club for Odyssey’s signature fundraiser. …
“I am a first-time voter and just cast my vote,” said one 63-year-old Odyssey student. Another in his early thirties admitted, “I didn’t vote four years ago . . . but now I will.” Both made the case for voting this fall at Odyssey’s recent event, “A Celebration of Voting,” held virtually on October 3. …
Last fall we were so excited to offer the first credit-bearing course in a Wisconsin prison in over 100 years. (This Isthmus article from February 2020 describes the fall program and its moving December graduation ceremony at Oakhill Correctional Institution.) With all prisons closed to visitors and internet access difficult to arrange, we worried that Odyssey Beyond Bars …
For Hedi Rudd, the decision to vote is both personal and powerful. In her award-winning essay for the 2020 “Why Vote?” project contest, she writes of the significance of her vote: “My vote will tell my children and grandchildren that I stood against corruption and racism and that I don’t ignore the past but learn …
After 20 years, nearly 6,000 miles and a host of trials and tribulations, Walada started at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a first-year student majoring in biochemistry this fall, with plans to eventually go to medical school. “Everything is possible if you are willing to work hard and sacrifice,” says Walada, a graduate of both …
In June, Saffold was named a University of Wisconsin System Regent, joining 17 other Regents as the non-traditional student representative. The Board of Regents governs over the state-wide University of Wisconsin System and addresses the needs of the 13 universities, sets admission standards and approves university budgets, according to the UW Regent website. “I’m still …