On Tuesday, Feb. 27, a select group of Healdsburg High School students who aspire to attend four-year colleges attended an inspiring potluck dinner at the Healdsburg Community Center, hosted by FirstGen College Counseling and Corazón Healdsburg.
Run by former high school principal, Dr. Lori Rhodes, FirstGen College Counseling is contracted by Corazón Healdsburg to provide college application information, guidance and support for approximately 30 first-generation Healdsburg High School students.
Students and their families were treated to an inspirational talk by Rodrigo Moreno, a first-generation senior at Stanford University and winner of a Gates Millennium Scholarship, which fully covers his undergraduate and graduate education costs.
A former student of Rhodes when she was an administrator in Los Angeles, Moreno shared advice as to how first-generation students can successfully prepare for college. He specifically noted enrolling in honors and advanced placement classes, seeking out adults who support you, taking advantage of opportunities when they arise and working hard. “If your life is easy now, it will be difficult down the road,” Moreno noted. “But if it’s difficult now, it will only get easier as a result of your hard work.”
Moreno also reflected on his undocumented parents who came to the United States for a better life for their children. He was particularly emotional about how involved his mother has been in the education of her five children, touting her two college graduates, two children in college and one still in middle school.
The potluck dinner was one of four held each year, two in the fall and two in the spring. The next potluck is scheduled for May 22. For more information about FirstGen College Counseling and Corazón Healdsburg and how to get involved, visit website corazonhealdsburg.org/firstgen.
— submitted by Lori Rhodes
