INSPIRING EXAMPLES OF PERSEVERANCE (Summer 2016). The Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) hosted the 2016 Postsecondary Counseling Institute (PCI) in June. A session titled “Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize: Equipping First-Generation Students for Success after High School,” featured a panel of Indiana first-gen students who found pathways to success, despite the odds. Guadalupe Pedraza and Aldo Rosales Salazar (pictured above), two inspiring Latino college students who have lived in the U.S. since they were infants, are immigrant youth who persevered through high school. They told the room--packed with high school counselors--that their respective counselors did not know how to support them. Aldo was directed to register for auto repair classes so that he could earn a living from his garage. Guadalupe and Aldo cited the summer program at LaPlaza--a long-time Fund grantee--for inspiring them to take Advanced Placement classes and to pursue college, and for giving them financial assistance to help offset tuition. They are both on pathways to success: Guadalupe is on track to attain a nursing degree; Aldo is on track for a degree in exercise therapy and physiology.

IYI Vice President Glenn Augustine remarked, "The students on the panel during Thursday’s session were very impressive not only in how far they’ve come but in what they had as visions for their futures.... [IYI has] folks dedicated to working on the issues that are important and challenging to our PCI attendees, and those dealing with Latino youth certainly fall into that category."

In the image, Indiana first-gen students and IYI staff attend the Postsecondary Counseling Institute.

Clowes Fund Field(s) of Interest: Workforce (Youth) Development

Grantees