GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Thursday was all about empowering West Michigan youth at Grand Rapids Community College! FOX 17's Samantha Mesa emceed the annual Latinx Youth Conference with the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan.
Eight hundred eighth graders from different school districts around West Michigan got excited about their futures. The message was "your future, your story." Turn the page to success.
Latino leaders shared their career journeys in front of a packed house of students, like Isabella Rivera, who goes to Grandville Middle School. She is also the winner of an essay contest the Hispanic Center held, her essay winning the "Letter to Your Future Self" contest.
Isabella intently listened to the speakers.
"Their stories were amazing and very beautiful," said Isabella. "They were very heartwarming."
Isabella and other students won awards for several essay contests from the Hispanic Center.
"It was very hard," she told FOX 17, "trying to express my feelings on the entire essay, but it was very much fun."
The speakers shared their professional journeys from across a variety of jobs, each telling the students that they are part of the panel to encourage students to dream big, work hard, and write their own futures.
It is support that student Jiancarlo appreciates. "I want to do something like this when I'm older," he said.
His writing won the "Reflection on Educational Journey" essay contest.
Gaby Cordova with the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan says this conference fills a need, especially for eighth graders.
"They're in that transition phase where they're going to high school, and we want them to start thinking of their future now and start preparing for it," said Cordova.
Sponsors from multiple local companies and organizations met students through workshops.
"It's amazing just seeing the unity of all of them," Cordova added.
Keynote speaker Stephan Dyer moved to North America from Costa Rica for high school.
He was alone at 15 years old, no connections, and he barely spoke English.
He told these students how he turned every failure into fuel, becoming the youngest senior manager at a large bank.
He earned six figures, and then did something no one expected. He pivoted into comedy, and now he tours the world spreading laughter through his shows.
His message was "the power of failure: stumble, learn, succeed."
The students were enthralled with his life journey, learning what a leader is.
Layla Fuentes is a student at Grandville and also won her essay submission for her writing on "Culture Narrative."
Fuentes reflected on what leadership means, saying, "Someone that works hard, has grit, like [the panelists] said out there, that they're not afraid to overcome a challenge."
And Isabella discovered that giving up is never an option. When FOX 17 asked her what she would tell her future self, she said, "I would tell myself, 'Keep going and don't listen to anybody who brings you down and makes you think less of yourself.'"
These students have a huge support system from the Latinx Youth Conference. Their goal is to let them walk away believing that their futures are their stories to write.
There was also a Q&A session for students to ask the panel and keynote speaker questions. The students had more questions than the panelists could answer. They were very engaged!
This is just the beginning.
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