In mid-October, senior Paola Carrasco had the privilege to represent our school and her Latina culture in the two day National Latino Children’s Summit at the University of Arizona Medical Phoenix Campus. The conference was hosted by two prominent Latino companies- the National Latino Children’s Institute and eLatinaVoices. “The objective of the conference is to get the voices heard as Latinos through various social issues such as health, civil engagement, and immigration,” Carrasco explained.
Carrasco, a Dream Act student, received this opportunity through volunteering and networking with people affiliated with eLatinaVoices, an organization that is committed to building an active online community of Latinas no matter where they live or work. Her supervisor, January Contreras, nominated her to attend the conference as well as to give an introduction speech, which became a reality this past weekend.
The conference was held over a span of two days, Oct. 19-20. On Friday, the first day, all of the Latino constituents congregated together for a training day. Here they got to know one another, shared their ideas and spoke about various social issues that Latinos face today as well as in their own lives.
“It was really powerful movement because it’s not everyday that you are sat in a room with people who deal with the same injustices that you deal with on an everyday basis,” Carrasco added.
The second day, Saturday, was a reception where national Hispanic leaders were present to give speeches to all of the students.
One of the most influential speakers, Dr. Juan Andrade, the most decorated Latino leader in the nation as well as the president of the National Hispanic Leadership Institute, was present; Andrade has registered 2.2 million voters since 1982 and is highly esteemed among the Latino community. Carrasco had the privilege and incredible opportunity to give an introduction speech for Dr. Andrade. “I just felt so honored,” Carrasco confessed.
“I just went up there and talked about my story about being a Dream Act student and got a standing ovation which was really cool. I was really happy. [Dr. Andrade] said no one has ever introduced him like that before.” Also attending were other prominent individuals such as actor Benito Martinez and Henry Cejudo, the youngest Hispanic Olympic gold medalist in wrestling.They shared with the students about their lives before their successes.
“How do you not be inspired by all these people, you know? It was incredible,” Carrasco remarked.
After the speeches, the students were divided up into groups for a workshop. Each group received a topic to discuss involving political barriers (health, immigration, education,etc) of Latinos. At the conclusion of discussing topics, each group came together and created questions from each category to ask a panel of legislators who responded to every inquisition.
At the conclusion of the conference, “we came up with a call to action: through social media and through volunteerism, we are going to get our voices heard as Latinos,” Carrasco disclosed. It was an outstanding opportunity to be involved in such a prestigious event and to have been able to make a difference for those around us.
