On April 1st, the Puerto Rican Student Association at University of Cental Florida hosted their first ever Puerto Rican Leadership Conference. They invited students from universities with a significant amount of Puerto Ricans such as, University of South Florida, University of Florida, Florida State University and Florida International University. Kiani Oro, Paula Rivera, Mariana Vélez and I attended the event as representatives of FIU. Jose Luis Rivera, the founder and former president of the association, reached out and encouraged us to drive up to Orlando and join them on this great networking opportunity. Once we heard it was an event created by Puerto Rican students like us, we couldn’t say no. With the car filled with “munchies” and our playlist ready, we drove the four hours and made it to our destination.
At the beginning, we were lost. Walking around their campus like tourist until our accent and confused faces got the attention of some student who were working the conference. Just like a real “boricua”, we were a bit late but didn’t missed a lot of the opening statements. The event began at 11 a.m. with a power point presentation about their student led association and a break down on how the conference would go about. The event was composed of empowering speeches from important Puerto Rican leaders in Florida. Those prestigious leaders included Florida Representatives Amy Mercado and Bob Cortes, Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla, UCF’s Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology Dr. Fernando Rivera and members from two Puerto Rican community organizations, Jimmy Torres from Iniciativa Acción Puertoriqueña and Zoraida Rios from Misión Boricua. After their speech, we would separate into groups and discuss the topics the presenters talked about and asked them questions. During those conversations, we came up with different ways to become leaders in the Puerto Rican community and how to tackle obstacles we may encounter on our way.
I don’t know if it was the cultural pride or the comfort of being around people who share the same home, but this event inspired us. It let us know that if we work hard and come together as a community, not even a level 5 hurricane can stop us from achieving our dreams and making a difference. The professionals that attended and told their stories motivated and reassured us that we can make it out in the real world. All we need is to put our mind and heart into whatever we can to accomplish and let nothing stop us. For example, that association in UCF was able to get instate tuition for Puerto Rican students for three years, instead of just one year like most universities did after Hurricane Maria. By working together and fighting for their cause, they were able give students the opportunity to stay in the United States and gain an education they wouldn’t be able to get in Puerto Rico.
Currently, FIU doesn’t have an association that is represented by Puerto Ricans, but that can change. There are a lot more students from Puerto Rico in FIU than ever before and enough to create an organization on campus. If this is something you’re interested in, go for it! Make a change and leave your legacy at FIU!