We were so excited to host another workshop with Chicago Scholars in April 2025. Co-Director Dr. Raj Shah led a belonging workshop with the senior cohort from Chicago Scholars. He talked about how becoming affects health outcomes and can be a critical factor to take into consideration when choosing a college or university.

Check out some of the students’ poems below as well as photos of the event to learn more about where these students feel they belong.

I belong when going to the Hong Kong market with my mom

Grabbing that coke-taste lollipop

I belong when speaking Cantorese at Chinatown, interacting with kind aunties and uncles

I belong when standing at Ping Tom Park, remembering who I am - Chinese American

I belong here, there, and everywhere

I belong when I am at my Granddads house on the West Side

When it’s 90 degrees out and me and my cousins are playing UNO

I belong when my Grandmother brings my family together on the South Side and we talk and talk for hours about life

I belong when I’m walking on the lakefront, the water flowing beyond my eyes, whose blue eyes stare right back at me, begging me to swim

I belong when I go to my family reunions back on the West Side

When my mom and aunt gets everyone together to eat

And when we play games, race, and laugh

When we’re together until the sun goes down

I belong when the moments of all the prominent neighborhoods of Chicago hit me all at once, reminding me of my love for my city

Esteban Belongs to West Lawn

I belong when an abandoned home gets a second chance

When the community always has something to do together at the park 

I belong when the vines of vines grow over the walls of homes, whose homes that house retired old souls so grown

I belong when groups of friends and fog walkers all unite to represent who we are 

And when the kids ride their bikes and people selling Mexican snacks

I belong in the moments when the community always has something to do together