Harper College summit an eye-opener for Latino teens
Sergio Gonzalez attended his first Latino Summit at Harper College in 2002, an experience he says transformed him from a high school freshman who wasn’t sold on the idea of college to an inspired 15-year-old who knew with certainty that higher education had to be in his future.
The Des Plaines resident returned Friday for the event’s 10th anniversary, this time addressing the crowd himself as a successful college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Gonzalez was among the event’s 60 professional Latino panelists who spoke with more than 400 local Latino teenagers about the value of higher education.
The summit also featured more than 50 current Latino college students, who relayed their experiences on various campuses.
“I want to give back, and I believe the best way to do that is by encouraging and inspiring youth to continue their education,” says Gonzalez, a Maine West High School and University of Illinois alumnus. “I want to show students they can go to college and they can be successful.”
During his opening remarks, he said going to college should never be an issue of “if,” and told attendees they hold the potential to obtain advanced degrees, including doctorates.
The all-day seminar, which aimed to instill the value of higher education and the importance of sticking with school amid the reality that Latino students seek out college less frequently than their peers, drew Latino freshmen from more than a dozen Northwest suburban high schools.
The group applauded the parade of flags that honored both the United States and the homelands of attendees’ ancestors. They heard a keynote address from motivational speaker Lourdes Ferrer, an educational consultant who has interviewed hundreds of minority students to discover the reason for their achievement struggles, and they toured Harper’s campus.
“Many who attended may come from families where going to college isn’t necessarily a sure thing,” said Recruiting Specialist Juanita Bassler. “They need to see others just like them who’ve been successful. We want them to set goals for high school, college and beyond.”