作者：辛西娅·休伯特

2021年7月22日

As she made her way across 萨克拉门托 State’s sprawling campus with other youngsters, 9-year-old Teya Garcia soaked up the ambience and asked question after question.

哪里是最好的学习地点？ 校园里有哪些俱乐部？ Where do Music students take their classes?

And, finally, “Can I go to 囊状态 when I get older?”

The answer from tour guide Ethan Hanf was an emphatic “Yes!”

Garcia was one of more than 40 students from North 萨克拉门托’s Benito Juarez Neighborhood Association who visited the University on July 21. The visit was part of an effort to encourage young people, particularly those from migrant backgrounds, to start thinking about going to college and becoming Hornets one day.

囊状态 administrators and special guests addressed the students in Spanish before they separated into small groups for campus tours and lunch.

Among the speakers were 萨克拉门托 City Councilman Eric Guerra, who grew up an undocumented immigrant and graduated from 囊状态; 大学校长罗伯特·s·尼尔森； 以及战略学生支持部门的副总裁Viridiana Diaz。

“Sí, se puede!” 格拉在欢迎学生们并讲述了自己的故事后喊道。 “Yes, we can!”

“My message is ‘Have pride in your culture, pride in yourself,’” Guerra said later. “Also, the importance of asking for help and accepting help.

“Once I was able to do those things as an undocumented farmworker, that’s when my life changed. And it didn’t just change my life. It changed my family’s life.”

Guerra said his experiences inspired his brother, sister, and mother to pursue education.

Ramona Landeros, founder of the Benito Juarez Neighborhood Association and a community advocate, has a similar story. 作为萨克州立大学的一名学生，她参加了大学援助移民计划，后来创立了校园多元文化中心。 

“I realized that through education I had the ability to make changes and have a voice,” Landeros said.

她希望周三参观校园的学生能收到这一信息。

“They come from farmworker families,” she said. “This allows them to see themselves as college students, see themselves as future leaders.”

Hanf kept his tour group of seven young scholars engaged as he showed off the Ernest E. Tschannen Science Complex, the University Union, The WELL, and various academic buildings.

他说，Union是一个吃汉堡或吃中餐、与朋友社交或打个盹的好地方。 He pointed out prime spots on campus for seeing turkeys and squirrels, talked about 囊状态’s 3,000 trees, and described the Academic Information Resource Center as “a great big study hall” with comfortable chairs and a peaceful atmosphere. 他赞扬了萨克州立大学的教员。 He talked about campus clubs and activities and encouraged students to “do everything when you’re in college. Do everything you can, and find out what you like.”

By the end of the tour Garcia, a fourth-grader at Bell Avenue Elementary School, needed no convincing.

“I like everything about 囊状态,” she said, gesturing across the 图书馆 Quad, toting a sparkly backpack.

“I want to live here!”