“Soy Un Lider” conference encourages Hispanic high school students to apply to college - Greensboro, North Carolina

The “Soy un Lider” (”I am a Leader”) conference, held on Nov. 17 in Bryan Jr. Auditorium, brought together 100 Hispanic high school students from 13 local high schools in Alamance and Guilford counties. The conference educated them about the college application process and encouraged and empowered them by giving them hope that they can be successful. The event was organized by senior Irving Zavaleta, Guilford senate vice-president and México native, with the help of first-year Mexico native Yazmin Garcia Rico and several volunteers including several Guilford students and alumni. Like most of the students who attended the conference, Zavaleta came to the United States as a high school freshman, not speaking any English. It wasn’t until March of his senior year that going to college seemed possible, when he was educated about college and given the tools to help him in the application process. “This is why I believe in this conference very much, because there is a lot of potential in the Latino community,” Zavaleta said. “But most of the times because of the lack of information this potential goes to waste. I almost didn’t go to college and therefore I almost lost my hope of being the first in my family to get a higher education, and I did not want this to happen to the dreams of many deserving students in my community.”"*

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