A special twist on UI's Moms Weekend: She's a student, too

Luke Taylor, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Updated ·3 min read

Apr. 12—CHAMPAIGN — Lara Romero is one of many moms headed to the University of Illinois this weekend, but the campus visit won't be out of the ordinary for her: She's attending college at the same time as her son, Salvatore.

Lara is studying nursing at National Louis University in Chicago while Salvatore studies computer science and geography at the UI.

This is Lara's second time attending college, but they're both first-year students.

"It's been really interesting in the sense of being able to support each other academically through relating about studying or stressing over an exam coming up," Salvatore said.

He said it can be a strange feeling, talking to his mom about classes and homework, but his friends all think it's cool.

"It makes me really glad that I'm able to excel academically at the same time as her," Salvatore said.

For Lara, who originally graduated college in 2014, it's been great to have a younger perspective for her second time around.

"He gives me a lot of advice about the new college life," Lara said. "Even though he's so far away, I can set up a FaceTime session with him and like, 'Oh no, I don't know what's going on,' especially with technology."

The UI campus might feel far away from the Romeros' home in the Chicago area, but that was what both Salvatore and Lara wanted.

"I honestly told him, 'I want you to go out of town. I want you to leave Chicago. I want you to experience something different,'" Lara said.

Lara said she never had the experience of living in a college dorm in a new town but always wanted to.

Now she loves driving down to visit whenever she can, getting campus tours from Salvatore and even eating in the campus dining halls.

Salvatore is enjoying his independence and chance to meet a diverse group of peers around the UI. Some people might find such a big school intimidating; not him.

"In my perspective, it just allows a lot of new opportunities, a lot of new clubs that I was never a part of in high school," he said.

A lot of his freshman experience has been joining different organizations to connect with people, but his favorite is the Asian American Association.

"It's a lot of diversity, so you're able to relate with someone or you're able to learn and acknowledge things from them," Salvatore said.

Mother and son see each other on FaceTime frequently — Salvatore has been helping Lara with technology like PowerPoint — but the distance isn't too far for an occasional in-person visit, like when Salvatore accidentally sent a package to the wrong address and his parents brought it down.

The Romeros' simultaneous college experiences are thanks to Hope Chicago, an organization that provides scholarships to graduating seniors and their parents at five high schools in Chicago.

There are are over 100 parent-child student pairs attending Illinois schools right now, and 62 Hope Chicago scholars are at the UI.

Salvatore said post-secondary education would have been impossible for him without support from Hope Chicago.

"I was able to open my eyes and actually think, 'What do I really want to do?'" Salvatore said. "It felt like the possibilities were limitless where I could be able to actually fulfill academic dreams that I have."

Lara and Salvatore were looking forward to just spending time together this Moms Weekend, but there are plenty of activities planned at the UI that they'll be able to check out.

Many Illini Moms Association events, like brunch and yoga, are already sold out, but Moms Weekend also overlaps with the Boneyard Arts Festival, Illini Student Musicals' performances of "Big Fish" and tennis, softball and baseball games.