Caminos al Futuro | Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute

My second week in D.C. was one of the most tiring yet empowering weeks I have had in awhile. Despite the week flying by, every single day was packed with over eight hours of lectures, discussions, and site-seeing. We visited the Supreme Court, Capitol Hill, and met with Congressmen that had once been in our own shoes. While each of these visits were memorable, my personal favorite was the LGBT+ panel on Wednesday night. After being served Mediterranean food and making the usual introductions, Caminos participated in a two hour long session with four queer Latinx men. They described their experiences growing up in a community that emphasizes ideas such as masculinity and religion, as well as offered advice to everyone in the room, whether an ally or queer themselves. Sitting in a room that was so respectful and attentive overwhelmed me with emotion. Coming from Nashville, despite the growing population of Latinx, I had never been able to experience an atmosphere so welcoming until then. I also had never gotten the chance to talk so personally to other Latinx that identify as queer, and who understood that specific intersectionality so well.

This week with Caminos only solidified my love for the program and the people who run it. While I participate (and lead) in some Latinx clubs/organizations (both in my school and in the larger community), Caminos is unique in which the teachers both respect and sincerely value the input of their students. Earlier in this program students asked to specifically talk about both gender and sexuality. While both needs were met, the manner in which the ladder was met was so genuine, as they were able to add that panel to the syllabus so last minute. I am excited for my final week in D.C. but also scared, as I do not believe I will be as challenged and understood as I was with Caminos anytime soon.

Before even coming, I was deciding whether or not I should even take that risk of doing a pre-college program. Yet, I decided to come upon an unknown journey which really opened my mind to the sensitivity of the experiences the latino community faces our my country. It's incredible how ignorant people are and me to all the disparities and challenges Latinos face. I'm really glad I came here because I've been motivated to find out more about the Latino community all over the country. Besides that, I have made many memories with the members of Caminos and the staff here is amazing! Everyone is really cool with one another and very funny. It didn't take long for my roommates to become comfortable with one another. We all have different personalities so it’s never boring, Daniel with his ice breaking jokes, Aristides with his funny sounds and Ricardo who is super cool especially since he has a second degree black belt in Karate.

Getting off of the plane and searching for my luggage in a place I have never been was very scary for me. Walking through the airport was even scarier because there were so many people walking past me. Also, having to wait for about 30 minutes to receive my luggage was long and boring. When we walked out the doors of the airport, hot and humid air slapped me in the face and it was and is still hard to adjust to the weather. Finally arriving at George Washington University, five Californians-- Kelly, Alexandra, Raul, Leslie, and I-- were waiting in the lobby exploring the college to find out that everyone in the Pre-College Program was gone and already eating at the barbecue.

Then we were expected to speak to a whole bunch of new people that I don’t even know, and it was extremely awkward for me because I am not one to speak to new people.  After, walking to my room for the first time, it was great because it was clean, I got my own room and then walking into the restroom I find the toilet paper holder broken and a whole in the wall, which was quite interesting. Such an interesting first day filled with meeting new people and finishing the first day of  the college life.

–Daniel Castaneda

The Caminos al Futuro program has been an amazing opportunity for me to be able to  take a part of. Everyone is amazing. The people here really care about you and want to surround you with the most positive and empowering setting possible. In addition, I’ve learned so much from my own classmates and I already know I can count on their support to keep me moving forward. I never thought I’d become so close with the people here in just a few days. Together we help motivate each other as we learn to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. I’ve already been exposed me to so many new experiences, and it has just been the first week.

Everyday this week has brought something different. I feel like I’ve already seen so much of Washington D.C. from just the first days. Because the week started with the 4th of July celebrations, we were able to go to see the Capitol 4th concert where we sat around the Capitol and saw artists perform. It made me feel special because it was something I never thought I would be able to see. In addition, as a familia from Caminos al Futuro, we were able to take a tour of the monuments. My favorite memorial would definitely have to be the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial because of all it symbolizes. Lastly, our week ended with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland. As a group we visited the Naval Academy there and learned not only of all our history in battles, but we also learned of the people there who die for us.

Although we have seen so much of our country’s history, we have also learned of the the issues we face today and how we can help make a positive difference. Dr. Vaquera, the director of the program, has led the discussions and lectures about the issues we face in our communities. From there we were provided with numerous resources to help us go back and make that difference in our communities. One of these resources includes writing workshops where, Bernardita, a GW professor, helps us use our voice to better represent ourselves as Latinos. In addition, our program coordinator, Mario, has helped us connect with interns from CHCI to provide more support for us. Without these people, this program would not be Caminos and I also want to thank Jayson our RA and Ping, for being there and doing more than enough for us. Everything we've done this week has gone beyond my expectations and with just what I have learned this week, I know I can make a difference in the Latino community!

–Leslie Castro

Hey everybody! Welcome to the Caminos al Futuro blog! As we begin our first weekend in DC, I’d like to tell you about our first experiences in the capital of our country. I began my journey at LAX where I met three other Camino Scholars (it took us the entire flight to find the fifth member of the California cohort). We flew from Los Angeles from Houston, Texas, and took second flight to Reagan National Airport. A total of eight hours, the five Cali scholars arrived at the George Washington campus. Unfortunately, we arrived at 7pm (we later realized that we had missed orientation and the first part of the welcoming barbecue). Nonetheless, we carried our luggage up the hill and had dinner.

We met the rest of the Caminos al Futuro participants during our floor meeting that Sunday. We met our resident assistant (RA), Jayson, and got to know each other through a series of icebreakers and games.

My most memorable experience was on Wednesday, June 5th. After a lecture on the Latino Population by Dra. Vaquera, we met up with Mario and Jayson to being our 6 mile walk. We began at the Lincoln Memorial. We actually stepped on the same spot where Martin Luther King delivered his iconic “I have a Dream” speech! We had such a great time, but we did not know that the walk would get so much worse… (The temperature rose and we did not realize that we had to walk so much around Tidal Basin).

We continued walking and visited the Korean War, World War II, Jefferson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt memorials. Throughout the way, Mario had his handy phone to give us History 101 lessons. We were able to have a first-person perspective on the impact that our nation’s history continues to have on today's generation. Being in Washington for the Fourth of July not only made us more patriotic, but actually helped us reflect on our country's greatness.

For this reason, we work everyday to find new solutions to empower the Latino community. We form a large portion of our nation’s population; in fact, there are currently 56 million Latinos in the United States, and we are continuing to increase in numbers. (Shout out to Dra. Vaquera for her lecture!) We have discussed heavily on the importance of the Latino vote and representation in our government. We truly are the future, and programs like Caminos al Future enable us to explore the power we have in order to someday exercise the power we hold.

These were some of my favorite highlights so four 3 hour walk. The Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Korean War Memorial. Seeing these historic monuments was so cool. The high school Junior is American History. To be able to see the textbook come to life was eye-opening for me and all the other Caminos scholars. The hands-on trip has been so helpful in further understanding the lessons from our high schools history classes. Thank you so much.

By the way, this has been an amazing opportunity to sing all my favorite Hamilton songs! Woooork!