For the past two decades, UC Davis has been hosting their annual conference that represents Hispanics and Latinos: the Cesar Chavez conference. They held this year’s conference on Saturday, March 15, and people from all over California came to attend. The conference is a free college and career motivational event for both junior high, high school and community college students. The long, eventful day kicked off with keynote speakers, one of them being Cesar Chavez’s grandson, Andres Chavez. He thoroughly explained his grandfather’s life story and achievements before everyone split off to do their desired workshop. 

There were multiple workshops that gave an immense amount of advice on many things whether it be on scholarships or how to prepare for college. I decided to attend a workshop that explained the importance of applying to scholarships, especially as a first-generation student. This workshop helped me gain more knowledge on how to successfully write and apply to scholarships. Afterwards, I attended a mandatory workshop for high school students and it gave advice on what to achieve during high school and what is recommended to have when applying to colleges, specifically UCs. 

Midway through the day, there were campus tours and it’s safe to say that UC Davis is a beautiful, laid-back campus. When I walked the campus with a group and our college student tour guide, I enjoyed seeing everything and being able to see how students manage their day-to-day life. To end the day, students were given the chance to talk to representatives from many different colleges. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with representatives from Stanislaus State, UC Merced, UC San Diego, and UC Davis. 

I highly recommend attending this conference because it has so much to offer and gives an opportunity for minority students and low-income students to discover all of the possibilities for college. This conference was worth it to say the least and it just made me all the more excited to begin applying and touring more colleges.