By: Kathryn Vance

College and the future are stressful and confusing times for all. Many could not imagine having the added pressure of being immersed in a situation where there was a constant language barrier. However, for many students here, this was the case until this summer when they were given the opportunity of a lifetime to overcome this obstacle.

Project Stepping Stone aims to help Hispanic high school students successfully prepare for college and their future. Three NAHS students attended a week-long college-prep seminar with guest speakers, informational sessions on how to write resumes, and even got to tour college campuses and stay in dorms. This program is offered, at no cost to students, by the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA).

The NAHS students that were chosen were seniors Jonathon Camacho, Heliodoro Encarnacion, and Ariana Bacilio. These students went through a rigorous application including an essay and letters of recommendation. Out of over 400 applicants in the state, only 90 were chosen to participate.

Both Bacilio and Encarnacion summed up their reaction to being chosen in one simple word: “shocked.”

Bacilio added, “I’m a good student in school, but out of all of the people that applied, I didn’t think that I had a good chance at getting in at all.”

Along with meeting lots of new people, the students also got to visit many different college campuses, making the time spent very beneficial.

“It was definitely worth it and I would recommend that all of my friends go,” Encarnacion said.

At the end of the week, there was a “graduation” from the program in which Camacho and Bacilio won scholarship awards. Bacilio won a $700 scholarship that can now go toward any school expenses. Camacho was caught off gaurd, he says, after receiving the award.

“I was surprised,” he said. “It was unexpected.”

Not only did these students win a monetary prize from the trip, but they also took something back from this that will help them out greatly in the future for years to come.

“It drove me to do better in school and made me realize that I don’t want to stay in New Albany for the rest of my life,” Bacilio said.

She plans to attend either Ball State University or Indiana University in the fall and major in interior design and minor in Spanish.

Encarnacion says that after leaving Project Stepping Stones he has come out of his shell much more and is a lot less shy when meeting new people. In the fall, he plans to attend Ball State University and is undecided on his major.