MCLA Student Addresses Conference
NORTH ADAMS – Gabriela Rivera, a sophomore at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, last Tuesday addressed conference participants at the state Board of Higher Education Readiness Conference, which focused on first-generation students.The purpose of the conference, which was held at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, was to create a regional approach to address college and career readiness. As a member of the First Generation Student Panel, Rivera spoke about MCLA's summer Individual Enrichment Program for first-year students, which she attended just prior to her freshman year.
"A lot of people are really interested in knowing how to succeed, especially first-year students who come from low-income families and who face barriers in coming to college," Rivera said of the conference. "I was shocked to learn that, for every 10 ninth-graders, six apply to college, four enroll in college, but only one to two actually graduate from college. From beginning to end, the conference was eye-opening.”
After hearing Rivera speak at the conference, a nonprofit organization that creates strategies for educational and economic opportunity, Jobs for the Future of Boston, asked her to apply to serve a summer internship. A history major, Rivera is from Cambridge. She began her career at MCLA by winning the "Community Spirit Award."
Rivera has served as an admissions ambassador, a member of MCLA's LEAD Academy, a member of Students Working to Assist Transitions (SWAT), as well as a member of the cheerleading and the tennis teams. She is a former president of the Latin American Studies Club, an orientation leader, the Pillars secretary and the biology treasurer.
Last spring, she was awarded a Scholarship for Service for her work with the Berkshire Immigrant Center, where she helped translate documents into Spanish, organized records and publicized, planned and organized events.
For more information, go to www.mcla.edu.
