This interview with Dahlia Roman was conducted on October 18, 2019 at the DeKalb Public Library in DeKalb, Illinois. Roman, born in Chicago in 1973 and came to NIU as a first-generation college student in the 1990s. Roman describes the support she received from the CHANCE program and Latino Resource Center during her time as an undergraduate. After graduating, Roman went on to earn a master’s degree and work for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Roman has since returned to NIU and works as the Family Coordinator at the Child Development and Family Center. She describes her experiences as a student parent and the work she now does with student parents at NIU. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Roman discusses the services she provides to clients at the CDFC and her hopes to see these programs continue to grow. Roman discusses her efforts to help students network and describes the community of students who grew up in foster care that has developed at NIU. She notes the significance of her graduation to both herself and her family, and reflects on the ways her time at NIU fostered personal growth. She ends by noting how NIU interacts with the broader DeKalb community.
