overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
UW System has received a transformative $5.6 million grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to establish degree and certificate programs in state prisons, with the goal of preparing more students for professional success when they leave prison. The grant project will build on the success that Odyssey Beyond Bars and other UW programs …
We love supporting Odyssey graduates as they go on after our two-semester jump-start humanities course to earn certificates, two-year, four-year, and advanced degrees. The photo collage above celebrates eight Odyssey alumni who earned degrees in 2021 despite the pandemic. Other alumni will receive degrees in May 2022. Please help us continue supporting more Odyssey students …
Although 2021 brought the Odyssey Project hardship and heartache, stretching our staff and emergency funds to the limit, it also reminded us of the generosity of our donors and community partners. So many of you supported Odyssey in 2021, and we are grateful for each and every gift – thank you! Together, we helped all …
“Before I got accepted into the Odyssey Class of 2022,” Yasmine wrote on her final assignment for 2021, “I was like an oyster in its shell — closed off from the entire world around me. As the classes go on, I am starting to break out. I love the person I’m becoming, and that’s all …
“Odyssey is one of our best examples of the Wisconsin Idea in action,” Becky Blank observed. We proudly announce that outgoing UW–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, winner of the 2022 Friend of Odyssey Award, will speak at our graduation ceremony on May 4, 2022. She has been a tireless advocate for Odyssey, whether introducing our presentation …
Josephine Lorya, alumna of Odyssey’s Class of 2008, received the 2021 ATHENA Young Professional Award last month from The Business Forum Madison in recognition of her work as a Dane County social worker, multicultural performer, and organizer of donations for her native Sudan. Odyssey encouraged Josephine on her journey to both bachelor’s and master’s degrees …
Odyssey students this year have endured incredible hardship, from contracting COVID themselves to losing loved ones, from facing eviction notices to fleeing abusive partners, from going into early labor to being racially profiled. As success coach Brian Benford (Odyssey ’07) puts it, “They are brave beyond words as they face housing insecurities, the lack of …
The UW Odyssey Project proudly announces its successful nomination of 92-year-old Robert “Bob” Auerbach for a 2021 Outstanding Individual Philanthropist award from AFP-Greater Madison for their National Philanthropy Day. At a November 11 ceremony at the Overture Center, Bob humbly accepted this award on behalf of his late wife, Wanda, and all the extraordinary Odyssey …
“This experience has enabled me to look outside the box that I’ve kept myself securely in for so long. I am not just a number or a lost cause like society has labeled me. I am a survivor, a resilient, strong woman.” –Emma, “inside” student from Professor Carmen Heider’s Inside-Out course Each Tuesday, students from …
“You’re only remembered by what you did in your time on earth, and I want to be remembered as a valiant man that despite his mistakes and hardships took a horrific situation and turned it into a story of resilience and victory.” –Mark, a student in English 100 at Oakhill this fall Hooray! Odyssey Beyond …