FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Hillary Rivera might be a new Sacred Heart University first-year student among the Class of 2028, but she is hardly unfamiliar with SHU. When she recently started her first semester, she had already spent more than a decade on campus.
“My friends will ask, ‘Hillary, how do I get here, and how do I go there?’ I tell them, ‘You go here, then there and then there. How can you not know?’” Rivera said. “They’ll laugh and say, ‘Because we didn’t grow up here, Hillary.’ My situation is unique.”
Rivera, 18, was in the first class of kindergartners in the Horizons at SHU program, when it launched in 2012 on the SHU campus. This year, she became the first Horizons at SHU student to attend Sacred Heart.
The tuition-free Horizons at SHU program provides qualifying K-8 Bridgeport students with an immersive summer experience on the SHU campus. The program features academic, enrichment and social-emotional learning opportunities, as well as year-round mentorship, homework support and tutoring.
Horizons at SHU addresses the lack of access to out-of-school programs that some families face, which can lead to summer learning loss, or the “summer slide.” By providing these opportunities, SHU offers students a chance to be better prepared for the upcoming school year and poised for academic success.
“She is our first, and we are very proud of her,” said Amanda Baez, the program’s operations manager, who first met Rivera when she was in eighth grade. “She’s definitely a role model and a leading example of the success we want for our scholars. We look at Horizons at SHU as a program that spans kindergarten through career, and we are so happy we have been here to support her through her success.”
Rivera, who is studying psychology and sociology, credits Horizons at SHU with giving her a clear path to her future. She says the minute her mother, Juana, dropped her off on that first day of the program, Juana knew this was where her daughter would go to college. “She thought the campus was beautiful, and she was so grateful,” Rivera said.
For Rivera, that realization was not immediate. However, by fifth grade, she had set her sights on SHU, and she was also looking forward to four years of parochial high school. She is a 2024 graduate of Notre Dame Catholic High School in Fairfield, which SHU purchased in February and which is now called Notre Dame Prep of Sacred Heart University. It is where Rivera’s two sisters go to school: Rachel, a high school freshman, and Naomi, a junior, also participate in the Horizons program.
For years, SHU has offered a 50% tuition scholarship to Notre Dame students who are accepted to the University. Since 2018, approximately 20% of each Notre Dame graduating class has gone on to study at SHU. “I couldn’t imagine where I’d be if I didn’t go to Notre Dame,” Rivera said, adding that her teachers provided immense support throughout her four years, particularly in her first year, 2021, given the challenges of starting high school amid a pandemic. “I still visit them and thank them for believing in me.”
Rivera is the first in her family to attend college and knows the resources and support Horizons provided helped make that happen. “When it gets challenging, I’ve learned how to push through. I’ve learned the importance of motivation. When you have a goal, you work toward achieving that goal.”
In turn, these are lessons she shares with current students in the Horizons at SHU summer program. She has volunteered as a teacher’s assistant each summer since 2022 and works with the same group of students she was first teamed with when they were in fourth grade. “I look back and try to model myself after the teachers I had when I was younger,” Rivera said. “I want to be that kind of person to the students I am now working with.”
About Sacred Heart University
As the second-largest Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing private doctoral institutions in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers nearly 90 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has a campus in Dingle, Ireland, and offers online programs. More than 10,000 students attend the University’s eight colleges and schools: College of Arts & Sciences; School of Communication, Media & the Arts; School of Social Work; School of Computer Science & Engineering; College of Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education & Human Development; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology and the Dr. Susan L. Davis, R.N., & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 389 Colleges: 2024 Edition, and Best Business Schools: 2024 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliate station, WSHU Public Radio, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theatre. www.sacredheart.edu
About Horizons at SHU
The SHU chapter of a national nonprofit organization, Horizons at Sacred Heart University (HSHU) is a tuition-free organization that provides qualifying Bridgeport students year-round support, beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school graduation and beyond. The HSHU program works to advance educational equity by building long-term partnerships with Bridgeport families and schools to create experiences that inspire the joy in learning. Robust programming runs throughout the year. School-year programming provides mentorship, homework support and tutoring. Summer programming provides an immersive academic experience and enrichment opportunities. The HSHU’s summer academic curriculum has a strong emphasis on literacy, STEM, creative arts and social emotional learning (SEL). Additionally, HSHU provides access to interest-driven classes, including cooking, art, music, sports and swimming.