In The Spirit Of 'Yes,' PSC Grad Cahron Cross Heads To Stanford

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL —With a 2.7 GPA, family troubles, a disdain for homework and depression clouding his experience, Cahron Cross didn't think he'd make it though high school, let alone college.

But the 2012 Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate sailed through Prairie State College and is now California-bound to start his first semester at Stanford University.

That's no easy feat. Data from the Community College Research Center shows that although 80 percent of community college students say they want to earn a bachelor's degree, only 14 percent do it. And a 2019 report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation showed that numbers of community college students who get into the nation's top institutions is even smaller. Only nine percent of transfer students get into those selective schools.

For Cross, 25, it took hard work, a little help, and a spirit of "yes" to get him to the university of his dreams.

"He just said 'yes' to everything that came his way," said Sarah Hein, a transfer coordinator at Prairie State.

That way to Stanford was a circuitous route from the community college with pitstops at a Swedish music school and a yoga training program.

In high school, however, an Ivy League-quality future was nowhere in sight. By his sophomore year in high school, family troubles overshadowed Cross's interest in school and dampened his self esteem.

"There were life things happening that made school seem insignificant in comparison," he said. "I kind of struggled that year."

But an H-F counselor and teacher helped pull him out of his funk so he could "turn a corner," he said — although he never gave up his fight against homework and even tried to get it banned at H-F. Cross also turned to music and began writing songs as part of his healing process.

So after graduation, Cross picked up a gig with independent production company Red Queen Music and worked odd jobs in the food industry and in the social work field. Academia still called him, though, and he enrolled in Prairie State.

It was a false start — or at least at short one. Cross left after a semester to attend a pop music intensive training at a Swedish music school. He didn't receive transferable credit for it, but it didn't matter. To Cross, it fulfilled more than tick boxes on the way to a credential — he could create, travel, meet new people.

"It was an insane experience," he said. "It wasn't quite like anything else I have seen."

After he returned to the United States, he picked up where he left off at Prairie State. This time, he dug in.

"It was almost as if he took a look at his career in college and then did what each faculty member told him to do and did it, one by one," said Prairie State President Terri Winfree.

Working with Sarah Hein, the transfer coordinator, Cross decided to stay longer at the college than he'd planned. He originally wanted to pick up prerequisite classes, then transfer out. However, when he applied to top-name schools — including Stanford — rejection letters came one after the other. Hein helped him see he could earn two associate's degrees — focusing on math and psychology — and use the time to flesh out his college resume to increase his chances of getting into bigger universities.

That's a community college's strength, she said. Prairie State is small enough to focus on an individual student's needs to help him find the right academic or career path. Its staff also is focused on excellence and teaching, so it can also offer students research and hands-on experiences larger institutions do, but with a personal focus.

In Cross's case, she said, he never let rejection get him down. Instead he used the information to retool and forge ahead toward his goal. That "yes" spirit made him stand out.

"He is exception at putting advice into action. He excels at that," she said.

Cross took Hein's advice and joined the college's winning speech and debate team. He presented research on integer sequences with a Prairie State professor across the country. He was a finalist for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke transfer scholarship.

He bumped his grades up to a 4.0 and took all of the grueling college entrance exams. Cross then applied to his dream school once again. And this time, Stanford said yes.

"It was surreal," Cross said about seeing his acceptance letter.

During this time, Cross also earned a certificate to teach yoga. He credits the training with helping him settle in at Prairie State.

"You know how transformative yoga is, and the mindset change you get from getting involved in that path," he said. "I think it helped me mature and develop a sense of focus and inner peace," Cross said.

Cross plans to study applied math or symbolic systems and cognitive science — to him, the field of his study is wide open. He'll also offer one last workshop at Prairie State to teach other students how to succeed in school the way he did.

"When I think of my whole journey and anybody else trying to do the same thing, I think the most important thing I did was trust myself and my love for whatever I was doing," he said. "The biggest thing I learned was that sometimes things scare you or seem painful or tragic, but they can end up being the most successful part of your story," he said.

Cross's workshop will be held at 2 p.m., Aug. 29 in the Proven IT Room in the PSC Conference Center at 202 S. Halsted Street. He'll be sharing his on- and off-campus experiences and activities that helped him be admitted to Stanford. Community members are welcome at the workshop.