The Children of Aztlan Sharing Higher Education hosted their 27th annual leadership conference Nov. 10–12.

Orchestrated by MECHA de WSU, the conference encourages high school students of all Chicanx and Latinx backgrounds to pursue higher education, as well as provides an opportunity to learn about scholarships, organizations and extracurriculars available at WSU.

 A goal of the event is to address the need for higher education in the Chicanx and Latinx communities while cultivating leadership development for current WSU students. 

WSU students are the ones who plan, organize and run the conference. Students created CASHE, which continues to be what makes the experience unique every year. 

“My favorite part of the whole thing is seeing students experience the conference and seeing the work we’ve been doing since summer pay off,” said Jafet Villaseñor, CASHE external affairs co-chair. 

The conference begins with students arriving on the first day. They then meet their team leaders and become acquainted with the members of their group.

The following day, students are given a tour around campus, play games and meet in the Compton Union Building Junior Ballroom for an educational fair about activities and scholarships. 

“Since I’m still a [high school] freshman it’s hard for me to know more about [college] but being here today honestly just opened my eyes to what I want to be in the future,” Yaritza Rodriguez Gomez said.

On the final day, high school and WSU students receive scholarships, awards and recognition to wrap up the event.

“My favorite part of this whole event is watching it come together … As a person of color, there weren’t many spaces in which we could interact with other Latinos or people of color,” said Carlos Rojo, CASHE student affairs co-chair. “Having this safe space to get to know one another and explore our opportunities is really the best part.”