NHI Event Prepares Incoming USD Student for College
Victoria Holmes lives in Dallas, but last week while in San Diego, she felt right at home. Her home away from home, that is.
A 2016 high school graduate, Holmes spent eight days on the University of San Diego campus. She stayed in a residence hall and was a staff member, a junior counselor, for the National Hispanic Institute's California Lorenzo De Zavala (LDZ) Youth Legislative Session. In Summer 2015, she was at USD as a participant in the LDZ session, a conference that gives high school sophomores and juniors around the nation and internationally the opportunity to learn how to navigate, manage and create large organizations by taking charge of government branches, proposing future community policies and projects and gaining self-confidence and other skill-set necessities.
"This program definitely taught me to be a go-getter," said Holmes of her NHI experience. "It taught me how to get out of my comfort zone. Last year I was challenged to think outside the box and do things I'd never done before, like being forced to go (on stage) and speak on a microphone ... now I love public speaking."
This summer, Holmes returned to USD in a leadership role — she was assigned as the California LDZ's social media liaison, assisted students and senior staff counselors during the conference — and as a confident college-bound student who will attend USD this fall.
Holmes is awaiting word on who her roommate will be and which USD Living Learning Community (LLC) she'll be in, but because she was already on campus with NHI, she sought out financial aid information, conversed with a student media representative, helped NHI participants find the buildings they needed to be in and she obtained her USD student email login to utilize Wi-Fi access for NHI social media duties.
"Last year I don't think I would have been as outgoing in finding my way around campus as I am this year. (NHI) has taught me to go out there, how to meet new people and how to talk to people about things I'm interested in. My confidence level has gone from just accepting things as they are to going and getting things done," she said.
Holmes is interested in Communication Studies, political science and has a passion for law, mock trial, broadcast journalism and politics. She likes the possibilities through USD's study abroad program and how the Career Development Center can point her to post-graduation goals. The small-school atmosphere and accessibility to faculty and professors also helped Holmes chose USD over other colleges — even some that were much closer to her Dallas home.
Her NHI experiences, combined with the potential that USD offers seemed to be a perfect match for the capable and confident Holmes.
"These types of students are the people who are really going to make an impact in their campus community," said Olivia Travieso, an NHI California LDZ official. "That's the type of student universities seek out. Likewise, our students are very selective about the universities they want to attend. They want a university that's going to show a genuine interest in the issues that matter to them. For (NHI), USD has been such a great relationship because there's so much synergy. This campus is so focused on being a Changemaker, focused on being global citizens and, in general, the campus community is so aligned with the mission and the values that are at the core of the NHI. I think that's why we see so many students attend the program here on campus."
The LDZ event at USD ended Sunday. And now, the next step for the Torero Class of 2020 student is oh so near.
"My experiences through NHI, through the programs I've done and the lessons I've learned here have led me to USD and to the values I want to keep up with and the characteristics I want to keep myself around as a maturing adult," she said. "I know I will be challenged here, just as I was challenged in NHI, but I will create a support system that will definitely help me. I refer to NHI not as a support system, but as a family. I get that same read from being on this campus. I'm ready to become an adult and to experience things I’ve always dreamed of. I'm excited to go through it in college, to be as involved as I can and to make a difference."
— Ryan T. Blystone