A Columbus Education Coalition Latino Education Group encouraged young Latino students at a recent conference to follow their dreams and to believe that anything “es posible,” including attending college.
The conference, called “Es Posible,” which translates to “it is possible” in English, was held at the Columbus Learning Center, 4555 Central Ave., on Friday. The event sought to show Latino students the benefits of obtaining a post-secondary education and what career paths are available to them in the community. More than 200 students attended the conference.
The idea is that the students get motivated so that they can go to college,” said Luz Elena Michel, Latino education and outreach program manager at Community Education Coalition. “The name of the of the conference is “Es Posible,” which means “It is possible.” After they finish today, we hope they feel, ‘Yes, I can do it. I can do whatever I want.’ And then they need to start thinking about what is next.”
The conference targeted seventh to 10th grade students, because this age group of students is at a critical time to begin thinking about post-secondary education.
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“The idea is that they start preparing themselves, starting right now,” Michel said. “They don’t need to wait to be a senior to start thinking about college. It is something they can do right now.”
During the conference, the students participated in several workshops on topics ranging from how to use bilingual skills to succeed professionally, to how to study effectively and plan for college.
One of the highlights of the conference featured keynote speaker Grisel Barajas, a radio personality for Spanish-language radio station La Grande 105.1 FM in Indianapolis and Radio Now 92.1 FM near Houston. Barajas also is a content creator and on-air talent for Telemundo in Indianapolis.
Barajas told the students about her struggles with cultural and language disengagement after she and her family came to Chicago from Mexico in the 1990s.
Barajas acknowledged that many of her problems centered around her teenage rebelliousness, a “bad attitude,” not taking school seriously and not understanding “why we had to leave everything behind to come here.”
“Believe in yourself, believe in who you are,” Grisel told the students while shifting back and forth between English and Spanish. “Anything is possible in life, but it has to start with you. Your parents already fought the immigrant struggle. You’re already here. You can live the American dream.”
Barajas said after her keynote address that she hoped that conference will help students “believe in themselves.”
“Especially in an area like Columbus or just in Indiana as a whole, sometimes in these smaller pockets of Indiana, a lot of these kids don’t see people who are successful that look and sound like them,” she said. “(This) is just an opportunity for them to see somebody, maybe with their same accent or skin color or hurdles in life that says, ‘I didn’t have it all figured out when I was a teenager. I was just as a lost as you are and maybe, if not even more lost, but hey, there’s a way out. Education is not only an escape, but it’s the key to success.”
After the keynote address, the students separated into smaller groups to attend three workshops.
Laura Leonard, a native of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and director of Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, led a workshop on how to use bilingual skills to succeed in a career.
“Knowing another language places you ahead of everyone else when you go look for a job,” Leonard told around 30 students, speaking in Spanish. “Perhaps you might think that your career is still a long way away, but when applying for scholarships or applying for schools, knowing another language puts you ahead of the rest, especially if you know Spanish. Spanish is the second language of this country.”
Leonard said after the workshop that she hoped the students will use their language skills “to their benefit.”
Ashlee Bello, 15, a 10th grader at CSA New Tech High School, said the conference was “pretty fun.”
“I’ve learned that using your second language is something you really need in your life,” Bello said, adding that she thought Barajas’ speech was “really inspirational” because “she came from nothing and made herself into something.”
Michael Martinez, 16, a 10th grader at CSA New Tech, said he was enjoying the event.
“I would say so far it has opened up my mind to new things,” Martinez said. “I don’t really speak Spanish, but my family comes from that area. My dad is Mexican. …I liked how (Barajas) told her life story in a way that the younger kids and older kids could follow.”
The students also participated in activities including yoga, self-defense, creative drawing, a nursing and dental simulation, among others, Michel said. Additionally, the students were given a “red carpet” experience from Telemundo Indy in which the students were asked questions by Telemundo reporters about what they want to do when they grow up and what they learned during the conference.
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The conference, called "Es Posible," which translates to "it is possible" in English, sought to show Latino students the benefits of getting a post-secondary education and what career paths are available to them in the Columbus community.
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