Tammy Duckworth

Rep. Duckworth Invites Illinois College Student to State of Union Address

Harper College student Homira Wardak will be Duckworth's guest to the event Tuesday

Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth is bringing an Illinois community college student as her guest to the State of the Union address to show her support of the president's recent proposal to provide two years of community college for free to all students.

Rep. Duckworth invited Elgin resident and Harper College student Homira Wardak, who is 19 years old, to the event on Tuesday. The congresswoman is connected to Wardak through her involvement in One Million Degrees, a Chicago nonprofit that empowers low-income, highly motivated community college students.

"Homira's strong work ethic and dedication to her academic studies is inspiring, and I am honored to have her as my State of the Union guest," Duckworth said in a statement. "She represents students from across the country who can achieve so much more when they attend outstanding institutions of higher education, like Harper College."

Wardak's mother is a single parent of three children who took a job with the U.S. military to support her family and was deployed to Afghanistan. Wardak and her siblings subsequently took care of themselves and their education.

Wardak enrolled in Harper College last year and is studying pre-medicine. She hopes to transfer to a four-year college or university and pursue a degree in emergency medicine, according the statement from Rep. Duckworth's office.

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