Mente Summit
2022 Scholarship Recipients
For every five associate and bachelor degrees awarded to the Latinx community, only two are awarded to Latinx males, and it is projected that if left ignored, this gap could more than double by the year 2040. The purpose of the MENTE Summit Scholarship is to encourage and provide Latinx student males the opportunity to further their academic and technical potential as they prepare to become future leaders.
Tristan Flores-Carley
Tristan Flores-Carley is an 18 years old first-generation college student and freshman at Portland State University majoring in Applied Linguistics and minoring in Spanish. Tristan was able to make it through the barriers which hold many back from a higher education with the help of college possible. With a love for his community and hopes to see them succeed, Tristan hopes that after college he can work as an English second language teacher in order to better help his community reach that future.
José Manuel Resendiz Flores
My name is Jose Resendiz Flores. I am a proud first-generation undocumented student at Portland State University. I was born just outside of Mexico City, Mexico, but was raised in Hillsboro, Oregon, from the age of five. I plan on graduating with a Business double major in Advertising and Management. I hope to help grow and expand my parent's small cleaning and painting company after college. I want to thank the constant support and motivation I have received from my family for helping shape the person I am today.
Jonathan Vázquez
Jonathan Vazquez Is the first in his family to graduate high school and attend University. He was born in Ventura, California but spent the first years of his life in Mexico. And ever since then he has spent his life going back and forth developing a rich understanding of the forces that pull and push individuals to migrate to the US. Driving him to further his education in order to help migrant communities. Now he is a third-year student at the University of Oregon where he is majoring in Global Studies with a specialization in law and human rights.
Daniel Carillo
I was born in Toppenish, WA, on the Yakama Reservation. I had a graduation class of 42 students from White Swan high school. I am one of the few students who have gone to college and the first in my family to go to college; I'm proud to be a first-generation student! I am studying public health with an emphasis on community health promotion in hopes of using that degree to bring about healthier changes to low-income communities in Portland. I also strive to create a youth program called DreamMakers that focuses on using scientific research to strengthen resiliency in youth from low-income and minority communities.
Canden Gutiérrez
My name is Canden Gutierrez, and I am a queer first-generation Latinx student from Hermiston, OR. I am a third year here at the University of Oregon studying Advertising and Cinema Studies. My involvements include being the Vice President of University Film Organization, being the Outreach Assistant for the Multicultural Center, and working for SAIL over the summer helping underprivileged students achieve higher education. I have dedicated my work to creative and documentary filmmaking all while telling stories that demand to be told. I will be applying these skills this summer as production intern for Rain the Growth agency in Portland, OR. I am excited to join the Mente family, and I am excited to see what is in store for our thriving community.
Anthony Méndez
Anthony Josue Mendez Is from Guatemala. He came to the United States in 2017. Anthony Graduated from Beaverton High School in 2019. After that, He went for 2 years to Portland Community College, and now he is attending Wester Oregon university. Anthony is Bilingual, He speaks Spanish and English. Anthony is a first-generation, and his dream is to come back to Beaverton High School as a math teacher. He is also doing a minor in ESOL. His favorite sport is soccer, and his passion is to teach and help others.
Ángel Zamores
Angel Zamores is a 22-year-old first generation college student and a junior at Southern Oregon University. Angel was born in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco. He and his family lived in Camarillo, California and moved to Oregon in 2013. He is currently pursuing a degree in public accounting and a minor in Spanish with the goal of becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the future. With his CPA license he hopes to one day be a reliable asset to the Latinx community in Southern Oregon. Angel was also part of the Men’s Soccer team at Southern Oregon University his freshman year, but is now focusing on his academic career. He will be graduating next spring term and will be pursuing his MBA in accounting at Southern Oregon University.
Ángel Montes-Michel
I (Angel Montes-Michel) am a first-generation third-year Human Physiology major with a minor in Biology and Chemistry on a Pre-Med path. My goal is to attend OHSU in the future to become a pediatric physician and help serve the Latino community in underserved provinces of Oregon. Other than studying, most of my time is spent mentoring Pre-health STEM students from underrepresented regions in Oregon through the MAP IT OUT and the Oregon Young Scholars Program at the University of Oregon. Additionally, I work as a Certified Nursing Assistant, help translate for Volunteers In Medicine Clinic, and serve as the President of the Minority Association of Premedical Students.
Sergio Martínez Lopez
I am Sergio Lopez and I’m a senior at Woodburn Arts and Communications Academy. I grew up in Woodburn but I was born in Fresno California. I will attend Oregon State University this coming fall and will major in chemical engineering. For my envisioned future my plans are to finish my four years strong at Oregon State University and hopefully go beyond a bachelor's degree.
Juan Omar Vega
Humility and individual accountability were always ingrained in me by my Mexican family. With Spanish being the only language used at home growing up and English being spoken at school and in most other social contexts, I learned the significance of expressing myself in two languages early on. This ability taught me the value of embracing my Latino origins and inspired me to represent my heritage with pride. My multilingual skills and Latino background have always empowered me as a student and beyond, allowing me to express myself freely in my native language. Additionally, my culture has elevated me to become the leader I am today by showing me to never give in to fear. I aim to respect my Hispanic ancestry by giving back to the communities I serve while pursuing my academic career in college.
Juan David Alonso García
Juan David Alonso Garcia (he/him/his) is a first-generation graduating Senior taking full-time college course with Portland Community College. He was born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon and plans to one day become a lawyer and represent all marginalized communites through his education at Willamette University. Juan David is so grateful for his parents because they immigrated from their home country Mexico to accomplish the American Dream, which is meeting new and better opportunities in life through education and hopes to set an example for his family.
Diego García
While in his senior year of high school, Diego has been a member of the Latino Student Union, Principal’s Advisory, a Varsity Soccer Captain, has held a job, and maintained his position at Top 5% of GPA. He has taken and is currently taking classes at Rogue Community College while still in school. The coming fall, Diego will attend the Southern Oregon University Honors College to major in Health and Exercise Science with the hopes of playing soccer. Subsequently, Diego will pursue graduate school to become a licensed chiropractor, preferably at the University of Western States. With this goal in mind, Diego has the intent to give back to his family. Diego is a first generation college student. His parents have made monumental sacrifices for him to pursue his education. Through his career as a chiropractor, he wishes to improve, aid, or augment the health - both the physical and mental - of the surrounding populace, especially his family. He wants to make his family proud and use the opportunity bestowed upon him to dissipate their long-lasting financial burden.
Ernesto Jaimes Ravadan
My name is Ernesto Jaimes Ravadan and I was born and raised in Hood River, Oregon. I’m currently a senior at Hood River Valley High School. I am a first generation Mexican-American and a first generation college student. I’m the oldest out of six. After high school, I will be attending Linfield University to receive my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Becoming a nurse will allow me to use my translating skills to help the Latino community. I hope to translate for the families who don't speak English and support them when speaking to doctors. Once I receive my bachelor’s degree in Nursing, I’m going to become a travel nurse. In recent years there has been a shortage of nurses due to COVID-19. So many states around the United States are in need of nurses, so I will be able to go support these states in need.
Daniel Zacarías
Hello, I am Daniel Zacarias. I grew up in southern California and have lived there for 12 years of my life. After those 12 years, I moved up to Oregon. I am currently a senior at Klamath Union High School and have been for the past year. Throughout my high school years i have participated in some extracurricular activities that include basketball, wrestling, latino student club, and FBLA. Outside of school I like to read, cook, and spend time with family as much as possible. I plan to enroll in a 4-year university, either Southern Oregon University or Oregon State University, to hopefully pursue a career in veterinary studies. In the future I plan to travel to the many places I have been dreaming of visiting since I was a child and open up my own firm.
Evan Carrillo
Evan is a senior at Seaside High school in Seaside Oregon. He is a first-generation Mexican American and a first-generation to be a college student. He will attend Clatsop Community College in the fall of 2021 to study Welding and has interested in Welding programs. He is the youngest of 4 siblings and is excited to be the first
in his family to explore the welding field. Evan serves as a model to younger students that came to this country without speaking English and motivated them to keep studying. Evan looks forward to the opportunity to help the Hispanic community. Evan is bilingual and passionate about soccer.
Jonathan Guzmán
I’m a first-generation student as well as a first-generation immigrant from Mexico. I came to the US a month after my 15th birthday. Coming to the US was a dream come true from my childhood, as my family told me to be great. I have moved several times throughout my whole life. I have been to 10 different schools. Every time I moved; I’ve seen it as an opportunity to meet new people. Even though I move a lot, I have not let that discourage me from learning. When I came to the US, I was held back. Now, after some hard work and determination, I'm finishing high school and going to college to pursue a double bachelor's degree in computer science and biology, with the hope that one day be able to combine the skills of both subjects to help the world out by developing new ways of how technology is used and created: using knowledge from biology and computer science to create biotechnology. After getting enough experience in both mentioned fields, I plan to go back to school to get a PhD degree and become a college professor and share my knowledge and experiences with the younger generation. As I would have been in that place before.
Jonathan Andrés Andrés
Jonathan Andres is a senior at Jefferson High school in Portland Oregon. He is a first-generation student and is going to attend Portland State University this coming Fall to pursue a higher education degree. He is very excited and thankful for everyone who helped him be able to attend college this Fall. He is going to be pursuing a bachelors in accounting. His end goal is to finish college and help Latino males know the importance of education.
Guillermo Ortega
Hi! My name is Guillermo Ortega, a Senior Latino that comes from a hispanic background, who was born in Ventura, California and raised in Oxnard. When I was a one year old, my family decided to move up here in Oregon, and ever since then I have been living in Southern Oregon for seventeen years now. I like playing soccer, playing video games, hiking, and many other things.
As a Hispanic Latino, every single one of us has big dreams to succeed in life and become successful in what our future defines itself. For me I have big dreams of becoming a software engineer and hopefully later in the future, I can get the education I need to get my bachelors in Computer Science. Lastly I want to make a difference in my life and my community, hoping one day we can all make a big difference in today's society.
Artemio Alvarado Avendano
Artemio Alvarado Avendano will be attending George Fox University in Fall of 2022. Artemio's career goal is to become a College & Career Counselor so he can mentor underserved students like himself, who may be unaware of their options after high school. He wants to advocate for high school students to take advantage of all the scholarships available to them, as well as promote trade school with the same energy. Artemio understands success after high school looks different for everyone. Artemio wants to set an example to students that, no matter where you come from, anything is possible with hard work and determination. Artemio's career goal is to pave a new path where students of color are empowered and given the support and tools they need. Mi éxito es gracias a mis padres.. Ellos llegaron sin nada y me lo dieron todo.