June 28, 2017
The Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE) has selected California State University, Northridge graduate student Alvaro Castillo as one of three winners nationwide of the alliance’s Seed to Tree Student Scholarship.
The AHSIE scholarship highlights college students who have helped promote the retention and presence of underserved communities — particularly Latino communities — in higher education.
“My journey and education haven’t ended yet, but I know I’m going to have to seek support and there will be barriers,” said Castillo, who is pursuing a Master of Arts in English, with an emphasis in creative writing. “Obtaining this scholarship is one of those motivations to keep going forward.”
Castillo, an undocumented student, learned about the opportunity to apply for the AHSIE scholarship while participating in a study-abroad program in Mexico, specifically in Mexico City and the state of Cuernavaca, in the winter of 2015-16. There he met professor Daniel Loera from the University of La Verne. Loera is the director of that university’s multicultural center and active in the AHSIE organization.
“[In] one of our projects, as part of the study abroad program, we had to devise a way to become involved in the undocumented student circles,” said Castillo, one of approximately 1,400 undocumented students at CSUN. Article Continues