ONTARIO – Priscilla Valero remembers when she felt it was time to leave the University of Oregon.
“No one looked like me,” she told a large crowd of Latino professionals and residents at Four Rivers Cultural Center on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Valero said that as a Latino student, she felt isolated.
“I felt like I couldn’t do it because there was no one else to look up to and see they were doing the exact same thing I was,” said Valero.
So, Valero called her father and told him she was pondering leaving the university where she was working on a psychology degree.
“He said, you are the first one (of the family) there. You have to figure it out,” she said.
Valero shared her account as part of a panel at the Latino Wellness Conference. The day-long event attracted more than 150 people and was sponsored by the Oregon Department of Human Services. The conference featured keynote speakers and networking opportunities of local Latino professionals and residents. Valero told the audience that at the time of her doubts in Eugene, the then-19-year-old Nyssa native decided press on. She earned her degree in psychology and then a master’s degree in higher education administration and leadership from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo.
She is now the director of Eastern Oregon University’s Ontario center.
She’s worked there for 10 years. The center “serves those students that are either online or any students interested in going to EOU and have questions and can’t make the trip to La Grande,” she said.
More than 20 area agencies, from Valley Family Health to the Idaho Department of Labor, were on hand at the conference geared to raise awareness and deliver tips for success.
This year, the conference was especially focused on the well-being of Latino members of the local workforces, said Elisa Bolanos, an Oregon Department of Human Services program manager.
Bolanos, who organized the conference, said one goal of the session was to “inspire people to overcome barriers.”
“We also wanted to do something along the lines of training for the Latino workforce,” said Bolanos.
Valero was one of nine Latino professionals who participated in a question-and-answer session during the conference.
“I was a little hesitant at first (to speak) because I didn’t think my story was anything to share. But the questions and answers were great,” said Valero.
The generational panel also included Noe Gonzalez, Jaime Moreno, Oscar Hernandez, Estrella Pedroza and Eddie Melendrez.
Gonzalez was born and raised in southern California before he moved to Idaho and then Oregon. Gonzalez worked in a variety of educational and society development projects in Idaho.
A first-generation Latino-American, Moreno was born in Nyssa and is a graduate from Western Oregon University.
He works a coaching and training specialist with the Department of Human Services and is an assistant football coach at Nyssa High School.
Oscar Hernandez was born and raised in Payette and Malheur counties and holds a master’s degree of social work from Northwest Nazarene University. He is a licensed clinical worker.
A Treasure Valley Community College graduate, Pedroza is the branch manager for WaFd Bank in Caldwell.
Melendrez is an Ontario city councilor, community volunteer and artist.
Along with inspiring change and finding ways to make a difference, several other themes emerged from the session.
A key topic was the important roles family played in the success of some of the panel members, teaching them to overcome adversity.
For Melendrez, the image of kids standing outside of his mother’s home in Bakersfield, Calif., as his mother barbecued food helped motivate him later in life.
“She made sure everyone got something. I’m proud of my mom for doing that,” he said.
Hernandez related the time he wanted to quit college and his parents gave him advice.
He said his parents told him he was “where you are supposed to be.”
“Stick with it, I promise it will get better,” Hernandez said his parents told him.
Valero also spoke about how important mental health is for women.
She said often Latino women must be many things at once: Mothers, lovers, workers and caregivers.
“It can feel like we have to do it all. But you know, you don’t. Mental health is so important in our community,” she said.
Pedroza said as a person of color one of her biggest obstacles was her “for feeling like I didn’t belong.”
Pedroza told the crowd that “your path doesn’t have to be like everyone else’s. Your path can be different.”
Pedroza urged people to get involved in their community.
“Continue to build your network. Find out what drives you. Change something. It doesn’t mean a revolution but just sitting at a table with others,” she said.
Bolanos echoed Pedroza.
“Getting involved, that is the only way we can make a difference,” she said.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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