HCI program helps take Adriana from led to lead
When she came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant, Adriana Cervantes was a freshman in high school and did not know a word of English.
Five years later, Cervantes has just completed her freshman year at Fort Hays State University. She credits the university’s Hispanic College Institute for aiding the transition. At HCI the summer after her sophomore and junior years, Cervantes met other Hispanic high school students with an interest in attending college. The Shawnee Mission North graduate felt at home.
“I think it’s good that Fort Hays State makes Hispanic and Latino students feel welcome,” said Cervantes, a student volunteer called a “lead” at last week’s HCI, now in its fourth year. “When I came to HCI, my leads really helped me out. They really changed my mind.”
Cervantes felt self-conscious about her accent after arriving in the Kansas City area from Michoacan, Mexico. HCI leads are assigned a group of students for the four days they are on the FHSU campus. The leads helped Cervantes think about her accent differently.
“I thought my accent was something bad,” she said. “They really helped me open my mind, not be embarrassed about my accent. They really helped me see that being Mexican in the United States is fine.”
Cervantes wanted to give back by helping a group of HCI students this time around.
“I decided to become a lead because I wanted to help other students that are in the same situation as I was, and to tell them that everything is going to be OK, everything is going to be fine,” Cervantes said. “I understand them; I was in their shoes.”
