A new UF mentorship program is helping Hispanic and Latino freshmen adjust to college life.
The Latino Educational Advancement Program, started by Hispanic Latino Affairs this Spring, is a five-week program that aims to help freshmen succeed in college classes and get involved on campus, said Carissa Cullum, the coordinator for LEAP. The program began Friday when the first 20 mentees and 10 mentors introduced themselves in the Multicultural and Diversity Affairs suite.
Cullum, a 24-year-old UF Latin American studies graduate student, said the program will host workshops every Tuesday starting this week. The workshops will teach students about on-campus resources, study tips, scholarship opportunities and Hispanic and Latino inclusion in higher education, she said.
“I think LEAP is unique in that we focus in academic success,” Cullum said.
Although the program is aimed at Hispanic and Latino students, it is not exclusive to them, she said.
LEAP will recruit students during the beginning of semesters before they get involved on campus, said the Hispanic Latino Affairs Director Gabe Lara. The program’s workshops will give students academic advice to earn better grades during their time at UF.
“It’s always a surprise when anybody sees someone of color graduate college,” Lara said. “We want to get away from that shock value that we could graduate, and we could go to college and we could do something great.”
Talia Lopez, a UF marketing freshman, said she applied to be a LEAP mentee because during Fall she wasn’t aware of on-campus programs that would help her as a Latina student.
“I’m a first-generation student, so I don’t have anyone else to talk to,” the 19-year-old said.
Juan Luis Giudicelli-Ortiz, a UF health education and behavior junior, said he became a LEAP mentor to help other Hispanic and Latino students like himself.
“When I came in as a freshman I didn’t have an opportunity to do something like this,” the 21-year-old said. “Coming into a white-predominant institution, I didn’t know about the resources that I had.”
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The Latino Educational Advancement Program kicked off Friday with a meet and greet between the inaugural class's mentees and mentors. Multicultural and Diversity Affairs Director Gabe Lara spoke at the event.
