Saul Flores speaks to 1st-gen students on identity for Café con Leche series
Alix Berman | Contributing Writer
Saul Flores was a first-generation college student spoke about how his childhood experiences motivated him in his educational pursuits.
It was just another Saturday for Saul Flores. He awoke excited to accompany his mother to work as she cleaned houses, eagerly awaiting the plethora of desserts he could help himself to in her client’s pantry.
But Flores noticed the reality of his situation when he looked past his chocolate croissant and his sister’s dancing to see his mother on her knees, washing the floor — a grueling task to put food on the table for her family.
“My guardian angel was scrubbing somebody else’s home,” Flores said.
That served as a wake-up call for Flores, igniting his passion to better himself and elevate the Latino community.
As part of its Café con Leche discussion series, which runs through the duration of Latinx Hispanic Heritage Month, the Office of Multicultural Affairs held the “Celebrating the First-Generation College Student Experience” event, featuring first-generation student Flores as its keynote speaker at Bird Library on Wednesday. The series aims to educate people on issues in the Latino community as well as other racial and ethnic groups.
A philanthropist and photojournalist, Flores came to Syracuse on invitation from the Kessler Scholar program. Since graduating from North Carolina State University in 2010, Flores has established himself as a well-known advocate for Latin American students around the world.
Despite it being an uphill battle, Flores was determined to earn a college degree to help him give back not only to his community, but also to his mother.
“(My sister and I) knew that if we wanted to make it to college, we were going to have to find a way to pay for it,” Flores said. “Junior and senior year of high school, we spent our mornings and our afternoons applying for fellowships and scholarships, and it paid off.”
Once in college, Flores began to organize community service trips to Atencingo, Mexico, his mother’s hometown. Once there, he saw the elementary school his family attended in disrepair. Seeing something that had a monumental hold on his history destroyed inspired him to take action.
After graduation, he walked from the small town of Atencingo to El Paso, Texas. From there, he began his work as a philanthropist and photojournalist, including taking a 5328-mile trek through Latin America to recognize the distance and conditions immigrants have to walk through to get to the United States. He also raised money for the school his mother once went to on his trek as a way to honor her story.
Breana Vergara, who created the Café con Leche discussion series, invited Flores to speak. Vergara is a first-generation American college student herself and strives to facilitate a welcoming, inclusive campus community where Latino students feel at home on campus.
“The various Latino student organizations really do make a pretty comprehensive Latino student life,” Vergara said. “We try to do as much as possible, but there is always more to be done.”
Flores’ message resonated deeply with his audience, which included many fellow first-generation college students. One student, Ivonne Millan, a junior majoring in psychology, was also inspired by her mother’s strife and is passionate about earning a college degree.
“(I remember) arriving here in this country for the first time, thanks to the sacrifices of my mom, and having to work my way up,” Millan said. “She wanted to ensure that I had possibilities and opportunities that she wasn’t given in life.”
Millan also recognized the sense of responsibility she felt to her fellow Latino students, and how she wanted to utilize her role as an resident advisor to foster a safe haven for first-generation students at SU.
“Being a first-generation Latina student is something that really allows me to create a sense of community,” Millan said.
The Latino community was Flores’ true north and his guiding light to help him overcome his life’s adversity, he said.
Flores’ identity inspired and emboldened him to continue his philanthropic work with Latino communities. He said an inclusive, diverse campus and the voices of Latino students can bring to a community are extremely important.
“Every person has an incredible story to tell,” Flores said. “That story is their most valuable asset.”
Published on September 28, 2022 at 10:48 pm
