Latino conference urges students to reach for goals

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Saturday, February 09, 2008

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By CARLOS VILLATORO
Napa Valley Register

1:45 p.m.On the first day Rafael Vasquez arrived in America from his native Oaxaca, Mexico, he didn’t speak a word of English.

By the end of that night Vasquez, then 15, could say at least one word — sugar — after his brother forced him to pronounce the word correctly before going to bed. Since that day, Vasquez studied hard to learn English and eventually overcame the language barrier, graduating from high school and earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Sonoma State University.

Vasquez, now an Extended Opportunity Programs and Services specialist at Santa Rosa Junior College, shared his experiences Friday with a new generation of Latino students who are learning English. Rompiendo barreras — or breaking down barriers — was the theme of Vintage High School’s Second Annual Latino Conference, which organizers said was designed to empower and motivate students to be successful.

“The goal of the conference is just for students to be exposed to the speakers and to feel connected to their school,” Vintage High Assistant Principal Jennifer Kohl said.

“I want you to start thinking about what you are going to do with your lives,” Vasquez told the students.

Vasquez said only about 28 percent of California Latinos ages 18-24 have a high school diploma, and 22 percent have college experience but no degree. Fifty percent of Latinos who enter college don’t make it past the first year, he said.

“Instead of going to college or universities, we are going to prison,” he said.

Vasquez challenged the 40 or more students who gathered at the school’s library to answer a question; “What is your dream?”

Vasquez, who also mentors gang members who want out of the gang life, forbid the students to answer “I don’t know.”

“You were taught to say, ‘I don’t know’ during elementary school,” he told them. “You are not forcing your brain to work harder.”

Noel Hurtado, a 16-year-old junior, told Vasquez he wanted to be an electrician; Rene Estrada, 15, said he wanted to be a mechanic.

“What kind of mechanic?” Vasquez asked.

“A regular one,” Estrada said.

When Vasquez pointed out that a diesel mechanic can earn thousands more a year, Estrada quickly changed his answer. Vasquez closed his presentation by showing a video of Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, a former migrant worker who entered the United States illegally and became one of the nation’s most talented brain surgeons.

When asked what he learned from the presentation, Hurtado said, “It got me thinking that I can change my future right now.”

Francisco Reveles, a policy studies instructor at Sacramento State University, encouraged students to get out of survival mode and into a more successful frame of mind.

“Survival is when you see a problem and you run from it,” he told the students.

The student who learns to conquer his fears has taken the first step out of survival mode, he said. Many of the students wrote their fears on small pieces of paper: Failure; the dark; death; snakes; the police; loneliness; and speaking in front of a crowd.

Two lucky students who volunteered to speak in front of their peers got $10 each from Reveles — his way of recognizing that they have conquered their fears, he said.

“I want you to be used to being No. 1,” he told the students. “Being the best means that you take chances.”

Friday’s conference also featured student speakers from both Vintage High School and Sonoma State University. Dominic Molinari, a senior and Associated Student Body president at Vintage, and Jesus Mendez, a junior at Vintage who serves as president of MEChA — a Latino student group — addressed the students about the benefits of becoming involved in school clubs and taking advantage of resources.

According to Kohl, roughly 25 percent of the student body at Vintage is Latino. When ESL instructor Jessica Di Gregorio noticed that many of her students were not getting involved with school ,she approached Kohl and Dennis Ruggiero, director of Migrant Education in Napa County, about having the conference.

“We just wanted to do something for our Latino kids,” Di Gregorio said. “We want them to feel supported and we don’t want them to be forgotten and that they are important here. ... In the end it’s all for the kids.”

2 comment(s)

Reality Check wrote on Feb 9, 2008 3:30 PM:

" I honor students of any ethnicity for banding together towards a goal of greater academic success. I just wish they could do it without glorifying sneaking across the border and racist organizations like MEChA...maybe someday. "

steph wrote on Feb 9, 2008 3:31 PM:

" Rafael Vasquez, you are an American hero. Thank you for your service to our community and for making a difference in the lives of children. I admire you greatly! "

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