A lot has changed in the last ten years at Mount Carmel. Over one thousand students have come and gone, and many notable kids have left their impressions on the school. However, only one graduate can say that they rapped their graduation speech.
Nico Ilic is the Valedictorian of the Class of 2015 and probably one of the most interesting men to come out of the school. Born and raised in the Southeast Side of Chicago, he had humble beginnings where he enjoyed a quiet childhood characterized by his strong Croatian upbringing. Ilic credits his time at MC, though, for helping mold his identity and values, as well as setting him up for a successful career in computer science. Now living back in Chicago after being on the West Coast, his story is one that must be told, as it epitomizes what it means to be a Man of Carmel.
Ilic grew up in the Hegewisch neighborhood, an area that allowed him to just be a kid.
“It’s quiet, but when I was growing up as a kid it gave me a lot of freedom and room to grow,” Ilic says. “Most of my friends were either from school, or they were just on the baseball team with me. I really look fondly on my youth there, and I had a great time growing up.”
His grandfather first moved to the city in the 1970s from Croatia, and both grandparents have made their mark in the neighborhood. He still looks fondly at visiting them at the local grocery store, Baltimore Food, on 133rd and Baltimore Avenue.
“My role was stealing candy,” he says jokingly. “I would just grab a candy bar and enjoy while my grandparents were in the back, either working on the checkbooks or at the cash register.”
His grandpa, Drago, has been a local legend in the area because of his famous “Dragobobs,” or Croatian shish kabob skewers.
Ilic’s early life was largely characterized by these strong Croatian roots and family values. In fact, both his grandparents and parents were married at Sacred Heart Heart Croatian Church, and he grew up attending mass there. He could not be more proud of his roots.
“I always think about my family and all the sacrifices they made to get to this point,” he says. “It’s not easy to go somewhere where you don’t even speak the language, and where you’ll just figure it out as you go.”
Just like many kids who go to the school today, he did not have a say in where he was going to high school. His uncle had graduated from Mount Carmel, and it left a big impression on Nico’s mother.
“I kind of just got orders,” he says. “My mom just said that [I’m] going to take the entrance exam at Mount Carmel, so I literally just showed up.”
But he never really saw or experienced the school before the entrance exam, so he knew very little about it.
“I had no idea what to expect,” he says. “I was a little intimidated. Here’s this new big building on the South Side, and it was quite different from where I was going to grade school in Whiting, Indiana. It was definitely a humbling experience though.”
In the months leading up to his first day of freshman year though, Ilic learned a lot more about the school and grew comfortable with it. He even made friends with a fellow incoming freshman, but not in the way you would expect.
“I actually met one of my best friends playing Xbox,” he says. “We were playing Call of Duty Zombies and mentioned Mount Carmel, and we found out we were going to the same school that summer, after about four months of [playing together.]”
Once he got to school, he hit the ground running, being a very involved member of the community. Ilic was one of the primary boards for the chess team during a deep state playoff run. He also played soccer all four years. To this day, he is one of the biggest supporters of the soccer team, whether it is through donating food for the players or simply cheering them on.
However, probably the most notable attribute was his success in the classroom.
“He was always very thorough,” Mr. Caribee Collier, MC Science Department Chair, says. “What I remember most about him is that he was so conscientious about his work.”
While he was extremely intelligent as the top student in his class, he was not the typical valedictorian in the sense that everything came easy to him. His determination is what stood out the most.
“He had an amazing work ethic,” says Mrs. Jennifer Smola, Chair of the Math Department. “His testing was not his strength, so he had to work hard on standardized testing. He knew that, and he found his niche.”
Ilic’s last words at the school were unlike anything any student has done. Instead of giving his valedictorian speech in a traditional fashion, he made a rap.
“Every year it has literally been the same kind of speech,” Smola says. “We were all excited to hear Nico, and he got up and said, ‘I decided to rap my speech.’ It was silent because I think everyone was so caught off guard. It was unique though.”
It was after this speech when former teacher and principal Mr. John Haggerty made sure to conduct a formal review process of all speeches prior to graduation, although his rap was widely appreciated by the school.
After graduating from MC, Ilic attended the University of California-Berkeley, with a focus on computer science. Following the beginning of his freshman year, he realized he wanted to study something different.
“I realized that I need to connect and interact with people a little bit more,” he says. “I switched my major and path to cognitive science, and really the intersection of artificial intelligence and human nature, with an emphasis on coding.”
He was able to finish his last class and graduate from Berkeley right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He started work right away, working his way up in the tech world at a company called Sitetracker in Chicago.
“I had been reached out to by a recruiter for a tech job at a startup that I still work at to this day,” he says. “I worked my way up to an analyst to lead, and then beyond, and I’ve been here for the last five years. I’m really excited and I have learned so much about internet fiber, telecommunications, tower systems, and even solar and electric vehicle chargers. I learned a lot about those industries setting up software for them to help track their projects and growth.”
Ilic now lives in the city and has experienced much success in his professional life at such a young age. Even if he did not get this job opportunity, though, he would have still moved back to Chicago.
“I just wanted to reconnect with my family,” he said. “There’s no place that quite feels like Chicago. There’s nothing like going out on a night on the town, or having some world-class food, or even just having good times with your friends. Whether it’s winter, spring, summer, or fall, there’s always something going on.”
Still being a young man that is experiencing new things, he still has many adventures to come his way. One thing is for certain though, and that is the fact that he has a legacy to carry going all the way back to his immigrant grandparents.
“Now I am carrying on that torch,” he said. “It’s something I treat with a special pride, and a special honor. I’m continuing part of a great story and making the Croatian community proud, while also having my own individual path in life. I really think there’s a balance to everything, and finding that balance is what living life is all about.”
