A Call to Action for Latinx Youth

As we begin Empower Youth Latinx, we are excited to share our missions, goals, hopes, and dreams with all of you. By being a part of this organization, and having the opportunity to work with Latinx youth we are learning everyday why it matters so much to be attentive and present in their lives. College readiness and the exploration of options are crucial for any student's high-school career. They prepare them for the most important years of their lives, and beyond that. Students are meant to learn crucial skills in high school that prepare them for college, but there is a lack of them actually happening in practice. 

I remember my experience in high school after quarantine was lifted. The assurance I felt from teachers and faculty pre-COVID was absent coming back in 2021. The school was trying to rebuild that community from the year and a half lost, but some things never truly made it back. I was a sophomore when quarantine started, and suddenly it was two years later and I was a senior with no direction nor general idea of what I needed to do to get ready for college. Our course of life was dramatically affected by COVID-19, and trying to maneuver education afterwards has proved to be a slippery slope for teachers and students. 

College readiness can highly impact the confidence of a student. Three-fourths of high school students surveyed by K-12 Dive felt they were unprepared for college and post high-school decisions. From YouScience, a career guidance company, a conducted survey showed that 57% of students did not have an appropriate amount of conversations with teachers about their plans for postsecondary education. This isn’t surprising, especially after the pandemic as everyone including teachers and staff were trying to figure out how to go back to “normal.” The reality is that there is no going back to normal, and that normal was never the best option before or after quarantine. 

In the year 2025 we have to figure out how to create programs that are not only preparing students for college, but allowing them to have ideas about their future in total. College is only one pathway for students; internships, trade schools and other career opportunities that can be offered to these students if they are exposed to the basic knowledge of them. Specifically, for Latinx students, Empower Youth Latinx wants to help students make plans and provide information on postsecondary education and options. Colleges want resumes, SAT scores, applications and essays and on top of school work and projects it can be daunting for students to take on by themselves. Students can’t in good conscience have their education stifled by a lack of community outreach and help. 

From many articles and guides on helping Latinx students the main problems are a lack of resources such as information, community and money. 18 % of the U.S population is Latinx, and the graduation rate has risen since the early 2000s from 64% (NCES, 2001) to now 83% (NCES, 2024) This provides hope for the future, but there is still an immense amount of work to be done. With our current administration it's more important now than ever to find community and spaces that are uplifting to Latinx students. Empowering students to continue their education, or follow their dreams no matter what they are is crucial for shaping the minds of the future. Latinx students and their minds need to have the space to grow, and the community to nurture said growth.

Cited Works: 

Arundel, Kara. “Survey: Most High School Graduates Don’t Feel Prepared for College, Career Decisions.” K, 14 Dec. 2022, www.k12dive.com/news/high-school-graduates-unprepared-for-college-career-decisions/638769/#:~:text=Dive%20Brief%3A,or%20career%20decisions%20after%20graduation 

Dropout Rates in the United States: 2000, High School Completion Rates-Race/Ethnicity, nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/droppub_2001/12.asp#:~:text=A%20relatively%20low%20percentage%20of,percent%20of%20Asian%20young%20adults . Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.

Mowreader, Ashley. “Addressing Equity Gaps for Latino College Students.” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs, www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2024/05/20/addressing-equity-gaps-latino-college-students.  Accessed 27 Apr. 2025. 

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). High School Graduation Rates. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/coi. Accessed 27 April. 2025.