Erik Peterson, a junior at TMI Episcopal, was invited to attend Celebración, 2019 in San Antonio earlier this month from Oct. 31-Nov. 3. Celebración is a four-day experience that is held annually by the National Hispanic Institute and introduces high school and undergraduate students to community social entrepreneurship. The event was held at the Wyndham San Antonio Riverwalk hotel in San Antonio and included a college fair, panel discussions and presentation on Latino recruitment and retention at institutions of higher learning.  

Celebración applicants are selected students who attended NHI, 2019 summer leadership programs. They consist of participants who received recognition at their respective events as well as those recommended by their adult project directors. This fall leadership conference is limited to only 360 participants from 12 states and 3 Latin American countries, all high school age youth consists of sophomores, juniors and seniors. Celebración consist of 15 contact hours of training, attendance at a private college fair, workshops on financial planning for college, and an awards recognition segment, where oversight is provided by adult certified trainers and college-age mentors.

The National Hispanic Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the future leadership needs of the global Hispanic community. Since 1981, NHI has worked with more than 95,000 high-achieving students, supporting experiences to help them reach their full potential as community leaders. The San Antonio chapter of NHI sponsors not only the Great Debate but the Lorenzo De Zavala Youth Legislative Session for high-school sophomores and juniors and the Collegiate World Series to prepare 11th-grade alumni of NIH programs for the college applications process.

For more information about NIH, visit www.nationalhispanicinstitute.org.