The feelings that arise when applying to college can range from excited and happy to stressed and confused. Not to mention, students are now applying to college in a pandemic. For Latinx students this process can be extremely hard due to language barriers, additional documentation and other tasks.
To help with this process, LatinxEd, a non-profit educational initiative to provide targeted, multi-year support to Latinx students and immigrant families striving for higher education and greater opportunity, started College y Consejos — a free online college advising space that centers cultura y comunidad for Latinx students in North Carolina.
The program is open to students in the 11th and 12th grades. There is no GPA requirement and enrollment is open with no deadline to join.
To join, a student must schedule a brief conversation with a College y Consejos coach via Zoom to be a part of the resources provided which include workshops and access to a Facebook Page.
According to its website, the program has two coaches, Kiara Aranda and Lina Palacares.
Aranda is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Latin American studies.
Palacares attended Duke University where she majored in International Comparative Studies, with a certificate in Civic Engagement and Social Change and a minor in French. She also has a Master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago where her research focused on the Spanish language and its influence on Latinx identity.
You can find more information on LatinxEd's College y Consejos webpage.