Nearly 700 high school students and their parents spent last Saturday at Cal State East Bay in Hayward to learn about opportunities to attend college. The annual Latino Education Summit featured informative sessions presented by Cal State East Bay's faculty and students on topics including high

school courses needed to qualify for university admission, fitness and physical education, grants, scholarships and financial aid.

Rene Mendieta is with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County, which co-sponsored the event with the Alameda County Office of Education.  Speaking about the first summit event nine years ago, Rene says the goal was and still is to, “Bring high school students to a university and have Latinos who have succeeded speak to them and inspire them. And to also have people from the universities speak about how to go to college and how to prepare while you’re a high school student,” he says.

“One additional component was to make sure that parents are involved  - so we told the schools as we were recruiting kids [for the summit] to encourage parents to attend because we wanted to empower parents to be good advocates for their kids,” Rene adds.
“Our philosophy is that our communities, through education, be strengthened - because that’s where we’re going to get our future workers and consumers,” he concludes.

Michael Elias is a college student who attended the summit last year and feels he benefited from the information and inspiration at the event.

"The best thing about being in college is achieving independence,” he says. “Growing up, I never thought I would end up on the other side of the country learning in one of the world's greatest cities. The transition from the tight-knit community of Castro Valley to the New York City lifestyle was not easy. Finding my way through New York, keeping up with school work, getting involved on campus, and maintaining a social life was a lot to take on, but I was determined to succeed. I have quickly learned that self-reliance is the foundation of growth and progress. I now learn because I want to learn, not because I am supposed to.  This is an achievement in itself, and it brings me great joy.” 

Asked if he feels that he is on his way to success, Michael says, “I am feeling more and more independent every day, and with this independence comes the freedom to pursue anything I want in life.  With discipline, hard work, and an insatiable desire to grow as a student and leader, I believe I am well on my way to success.”

According to Cal State’s website, there were 1,321 full-time Hispanic students in bachelors programs in 2007.