Raza Youth Conference encourages students to pursue higher education

High school student Kaylene Mendez wants to be the first in her family to go to college.

So, on Saturday, she made the hourlong drive to UCLA from Garden Grove to learn what to do to reach her goal.

The 15-year-old sat next to her older sister and rode the bus to UCLA with a group of strangers from a nearby school to attend the Raza Youth Conference hosted by MEChA de UCLA.

The Mendez sisters are part of the college preparation program Stepping Up at Pacifica High School, located about 40 miles away from UCLA.

“My dad is always telling me to keep up my grades because he wants me to go straight to a university instead of community college first,” Mendez said. “I’m only a freshman (in high school), but I’m hoping to earn at least Bs or better.”

The Raza Youth Conference, which is in its 22nd year, seeks to teach low-income middle and high school students as well as community college students about the college application process. It also aims to encourage Latina/o and Chicana/o members of the community to pursue degrees beyond high school, said Bryon Alvarez, a fourth-year political science student and co-chair of the conference.

Members of MEChA de UCLA began planning the conference three months in advance with a focus on the theme “Conscious of my Historia, Embracing my Roots, Today I am Resilient.” The conference cost about $15,000 from group fundraisers and campus programming money to put on, Alvarez said.

Mendez and 1,100 other students filed into Pauley Pavilion and were welcomed by conference co-chairs Alvarez and first-year business economics student Rafael Garibay, who encouraged them to pursue higher education, either at UCLA or another school to increase the representation of diverse groups on college campuses.

“I hope this conference changed (the students’) perspectives and encouraged them to (apply to college),” he said. “You don’t have to go to UCLA, but you have the opportunity to go to a university and pursue higher education.”

In past years, about 500 students attended the Raza Youth Conference, Alvarez said. This year’s conference accommodated more than double the number of students from schools in Los Angeles, San Diego and Arizona, among other areas, because of increased outreach efforts, he said.

The conference included workshops on the college application process, current events related to the Latina/o and Chicana/o communities and social barriers to achieving higher education for people of color.

Students went on People of Color tours to learn about UCLA’s history, heard a spoken-word presentation and watched a dance performance by fourth-year English and Chicana/o studies student Luis Lira. They also listened to keynote speaker UCLA Professor Dr. Michael A. Rodriguez.

Rodriguez talked to students about how he overcame racism and poverty growing up in California as part of an immigrant family from Mexico. He said he was able to earn his degrees and become a professor in part because of the sacrifices and hard work of his parents.

He encouraged the students to limit their distractions from technology, set concrete goals for themselves and persevere to achieve their educational and career aspirations.

Gabriela Saavedra, a high school sophomore from Boyle Heights who came with her school’s Advancement Via Individual Determination Club, said neither of her parents went to college, but her older sister attends UC Berkeley. She also hopes to pursue a degree so she can work in the field of medicine.

High school sophomore Jocelyne Morales said she enjoyed being surrounded by other students who want to go to college even after facing adversity.

“It’s amazing to see all these people who actually want to learn about their roots,” Morales said. “I’ve never seen so many people united as a community.”