Edison Wells is a busy guy.

Between taking classes and working at NIU’s Access to Courses and Careers through Educational Support Services program, Wells’ days are action-packed.

He is graduating this spring with a degree in human and family resources and is planning to get a master’s degree.

Wells is a CHANCE (Counseling Help and Assistance Necessary for a College Education) student. Suprised? Wells isn’t.

Wells said CHANCE provided him a service, not a stigma. “It’s not like it follows you, or that you’re treated really that much different than anybody else,” as a CHANCE student, he said.

Wells got involved with CHANCE in 1985 because his ACT score “wasn’t all that great. I’m a terrible test-taker” under stressful conditions, he said.

He soon realized that being admitted through the CHANCE program was just another option for admission, which helped him meet certain criteria during his first year.

“It’s really no different than being a regular student, it just gives you a little extra help during your freshman year,” Wells said.

“The CHANCE program has been nothing but positive for me. I don’t understand why people think it’s so bad to come in the program,” Wells said. CHANCE allows students with low grade point average or ACT scores from high school the chance to prove themselves academically at NIU, “just like anybody else,” he said.

Wells met once a week for about the first month of his freshman year for orientation sessions that taught him how to deal with problems at school and with professors. The program also monitored Wells’ progress his freshman year.

Though the program guidelines prohibited him from pledging a fraternity, he said it allowed him more time to concentrate on homework.

Although CHANCE offers its services to students throughout their careers at NIU, Wells said he has rarely used them as an upperclassman.

Wells said the best thing he got from CHANCE was the influence of a counselor who helped him put his occasional academic downfalls into proportion. “I was a very intense student when I came in, too intense. When I did poorly in a class, I broke down or flew off the handle.

“I could go and talk to her and she would calm me down. The counselors allowed themselves to be the outlet for my frustration with university policies, university teachers and classes. If I had a problem, I could go to them and they would do their best to help me out.”

It was a faculty member rather than a student that Wells felt stigmatized him as a CHANCE student. Wells went to see his business professor because he was having problems in the class his freshman year.

“He wasn’t very helpful and his attitude came across as ‘My God! How dare you come into this office and ask me for help—you’re a CHANCE student.’ That was the attitude he gave off to me at that particular time,” Wells said.

But despite the occasional obstacles, Wells has made it through. “The reason why I made it was because I wanted to do it before I started college. I did it. Here I am. I wish all CHANCE students were motivated enough to get through and graduate. CHANCE never gave up on me and I never gave up on them.”

Wells now works as a counselor for CHANCE tutors. Wells said he evaluates and tries to help the tutors improve their communication and motivation skills with students. He also said he helps them deal with the students’ different personalities and needs.