Alia Douaidary strolled between rows of college recruiters with friends at the Auraria Campus Event Center on Saturday, grabbing school packets and filling out contact cards.
While she knows college is in her future, she said it’s encouraging to see them gathered in one place. She can compare the programs and hear others asking similar questions.
“It’s helping me see the different opportunities,” said Alia, 16. “This is more support that I can do it, that I can make it in college if I try.”
More than 1,600 students walked through the college fair, just one of the events at the annual La Raza Youth Leadership Conference.
The conference, designed to empower Latino youths and help them achieve their educational potential, consisted of workshops on college, leadership, careers and culture.
“This is to let them know their options,” said La Raza chairwoman Maria Castro. “We want to help them get an education, get a degree, but ensure they have the right resources as well.”
Ari Rosner-Salazar, who led “Mo’ Money: Start at Zero, End With a Million,” broke down concerns about credit cards and offered tips on filing for financial aid and saving money.
Salazar said the students could make $1 million more over their lifetime just by having a college degree.
Speaker Haven “Solid Savage” Herrera performed a rap about how as a kid he did drugs and went to jail for graffiti, but then a passion for hip-hop turned his life around.
He and his brother now are in charge of Skilfest, one of the largest hip-hop shows in Grand Junction.
“I like to be sharp on the mike,” Herrera said. “I used to be just dulling my blades. I want to wake up and remember my lyrics and not just be killing my brain cells.”
Horizon High School student Robert Salazar listened as another speaker recalled how dealing drugs almost cost his life when he was tied up with duct tape and robbed at gunpoint.
“My parents tell me not to do those things, and I never listen to them,” Robert, 14, said. “But this changes my mind.”
On every T-shirt and program cover was the conference’s symbol – an Aztec warrior standing by the side of a Latino graduate – to illustrate the theme, “Dream to Achieve.”
“It’s where we’ve been, our culture, our history, what we’ve done, and the successes we will continue to strive for,” Castro said.
Staff writer Julianne Bentley can be reached at jbentley@denverpost.com.
