overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
Mustafa Mohammed Saed (pictured above, far right) watched his sister and fellow Odyssey 2016 classmate Umaima (third from left) graduate from UW–Madison in December, wearing cap and gown and walking across the stage at a crowded ceremony. Chancellor Becky Blank singled out Umaima and her family for their courage in fleeing from war-torn Iraq. Just one semester …
“The 60-year-old father of five has spent the last three decades supporting Madison’s most vulnerable and marginalized population working for community-based organizations in a variety of roles. The former alderperson for Madison’s District 12 on the near east side is currently the success coach for the Madison Odyssey Program, a program that has helped put …
“Our families are hit hard because they’re already struggling paycheck to paycheck,” Auerbach said. “If they’re laid off, they can’t provide food on the table, can’t provide the basics. It’s really hard to think about school. How can you think about Socrates and Shakespeare when you can’t feed your family?” https://odyssey.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/506/2020/05/zoom-graduation.mp4
“Odyssey Director Emily Auerbach opened the ceremony: “This is our 17th year, and we’ve never done something like this before. Though we can’t be in a grand ballroom and share hugs, we can still be together and have people join us from other states and even other countries. We’re all here to celebrate the amazing resilience …
Odyssey made history on May 6 with its joyous, first-ever online graduation ceremony. Read our blog about the ceremony here. We’ll share graduation highlights in our June newsletter; in the meantime find NBC 15 coverage, student readings, and more on our website. Dauntrea Vance says her life changed when she was only eight years old and accompanied …
“This pandemic has really highlighted the discrepancies, especially for students of color who have already been struggling with lower incomes and fewer resources, and now are being hit disproportionately hard by schools closing and jobs laying them off and lack of support systems around them,” UW Odyssey Project Director Emily Auerbach tells Madison365
“This crisis highlights economic inequities. To meet online with Odyssey’s class of 2020, we delivered rented laptops to students dependent on libraries to connect. But how can students focus on Socrates and Toni Morrison when they’ve lost their jobs, have hungry kids home from school, are trapped in small apartments with abusive partners, can’t pay …
In-person, lively, Socratic discussions in a classroom filled with laughter, shared meals, and plentiful hugs have been at the heart of Odyssey classes for 17 years. What should we do in a pandemic? How can we connect with students at the poverty level lacking computers? After delivering rented laptops and food to those in need …
“I’m happy to say that Wisconsin is now on board with offering credit-bearing courses to students in prison,” Moreno said. “There’s a tremendous demand for them. When we finished the English 100 class this last fall, many of the students came up to me and the instructor, Kevin Mullen, and said, ‘Okay, this was wonderful. …
During December’s University of Wisconsin–Madison graduation ceremony at the Kohl Center, Chancellor Becky Blank singled out Umaima and her family for special mention (watch the video here). A refugee from Iraq, Umaima graduated from the UW Odyssey Project in 2016 with her mother and brother, also at UW now, while her younger siblings attended Odyssey Junior. …