Roosevelt University hosts 4th annual Latino Visit Day

Promoting the importance of college to Hispanics was the goal of Roosevelt University's fourth annual Latino Visit Day at its Schaumburg campus.

Motivational speaker Ernesto Mejia, the son of Mexican immigrants, spoke to about 75 local high school students about how he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome when he was 16 leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Overcoming this setback, he went on to earn his master's degree in organizational leadership.

Mejia helped develop a student leadership program, SLiCK, to help students dream big and believe in their abilities. SLiCK (Student Leadership Inspired By Consuelo Kickbusch) is a program for students in middle school, high school and college that helps motivate them to get a degree. He also is owner of CoolSpeak and he frequently speaks on racism, prejudice and how to overcome discrimination.

"Latino Visit Day provides an opportunity for high school students to learn more about the college application process," said Beth Gierach, assistant vice president for admission at Roosevelt. "For many students, this task alone can be daunting. The event will also cover communicating with family members, living away from home and how to stay positive in college."