College Gave Simelton Foundation for Success

By Shannon Woodworth, 4/14/09

ULLIN - How do you get from one of the state’s most impoverished communities to an office with a view of Lake Michigan at one of the nation’s largest electric utility companies? One man did it by passing through Shawnee Community College.

When Michael Simelton looks out his Chicago office window to see the blue waters of the world’s fifth largest lake, he never forgets where he came from. Raised in Cairo "from humble beginnings," Simelton, a 2000 graduate of Cairo High School, never dreamed he would be working for a corporation with approximately $19 billion in annual revenues.

But, according to Simelton - who was valedictorian of his high school class - thanks to caring instructors at Shawnee Community College, he got a strong foundation in engineering, continued to be a top student at SCC and later at a four-year university, and then landed a job with Exelon Corporation in Chicago.

"The love and care of instructors at Shawnee Community College was a life changing experience for me," Simelton said. "Without the college and a lot of good people who encouraged and mentored me, I am not sure I would be where I am at today."

As one of four siblings cared for by his grandparents in the Cairo federal housing projects, Simelton found his voice and with courage became one of Shawnee Community College’s best engineering students, according to Rhonda Dillow, division chairperson/mathematics instructor.

"I am extremely proud of Michael," Dillow said. "In fact, talk to most any instructor on campus and they will tell you that Michael was an inspiration and he overcame some tremendous obstacles to get to where he is today."

Simelton said that no matter where his life takes him, he would never forget where he came from. "I always tell myself to be thankful for humble beginnings because that is where every great person comes from. Some people may overlook Shawnee Community College, but it is where I got my start, and I couldn’t be more proud of that."

Currently, Shawnee Community College engineering students transferring to the Southern Illinois University College of Engineering are experiencing success rates that are nearly twice that of first-time university freshman, the university says, and nearly all engineering and technology graduates have jobs either immediately after or within six months of graduation.