Thanks
Hi my name is Alexis Rosado and I got the privilege of being a part of the Atrévete a Soñar: ¡Edúcate! Conference, which translates to the Dare to Dream! Get educated conference. This one day conference was funded by the Dupage community Foundation.
Latina girls have the 1 high school dropout rate, and don’t go to college. So, Hispanic girls from middle schools in the Dupage area and their mothers and/or mentors were invited to this conference. The purpose of the conference was to empower the young ladies to envision education, and careers for their future, and encourage them to make their dreams a reality. Transportation and food was provided for all 300 girls and mothers whom attended.
Upon arrival the young participants received Green bags that had the name of the conference on it, inside were a program for the day’s events, little goodies such as a Lollypop, and juice box, college information, a free admission ticket to the a museum, a book mark, pen, paper, and many more little gifts from supporting businesses. This excited and helped welcome these young ladies.
The conference began with a keynote speaker, the two time Emmy winner Lourdes Durante, who is a Hispanic reporter from MGN News. She spoke about her past, from her family’s financial challenges as a child to working hard and achieving her goals, of now being a very successful reporter. Later the girls were broken down into groups each taken to different workshops.
Within these workshops the following things were talked about, the value of completion of all levels of education from middle school to college, career opportunities, High school preparation for college, financial aid availability, Goal-setting skills and strategies, and problem solving.
Separate sessions offered in Spanish for the mothers/mentors. Focused on the
physical and psychological growth and development of their daughters and the pressures their daughters may face and how to prepare them for the future.
One workshop for the girls that I found most powerful included a panel of at least 3 speakers that spoke about the importance of education. Within this panel one was a school counselor or advisor, a high school student, and a college student. This is where I had a big role in this conference, I was a motivational speaker from the high school level, I got to speak on behalf of my experiences and how every challenge that I had faced made me who am. I spoke of being bullied, and the challenges I faced for being Hispanic. I spoke of overcoming the negativity others may give us and how one can take it as an opportunity to change for the better. I told the girls my goals, and achievements. I got the opportunity to share how one can learn from these experiences and be the change they want to see, and how education is the step to the long journey of the goals and dream they can one day achieve.
After my panel and I spoke, girls spoke directly to us, telling us what they learned from our stories. I girl said she had a goal of going Harvard, another girl said that she learned “to never give up your dream and to not let any obstacle keep you from achieving your goal.”
But what they may not know is that although this conference affected them so powerfully, it affected me as well. I learned about myself and others, I learned that we all have a different story and past, but if one sets their mind to something they can achieve it. I learned that empowering each other is a way of working together for a common interest of a better world, and dreams of success. Seeing these young ladies look upto me made me want to live a life of purity, honesty, and encouragement to others around me. It made me realize that although my life story may not be the best story, it’s a story that can encourage others around me.
Every single girl I spoke to that night had a different dream and I knew that this conference made them realize they are valuable to this world and that a dream is the start to a journey of success. I hope that this conference helps Latina girls not become another statistic of a high school dropout, but to go into history books, and change our world. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to be a part of this event, and thank the Dupage community Foundation, for funding this event, helping this conference become a reality. I hope that we can work this into our high schools so that we can inspire more Latina girls. I feel very strongly about this program, because I know that this conference helped many young ladies, and at time of darkness I think the light of hope and inspiration from this conference will shine through to help them reach their goals.
