1st Southwestern Regional Student Conference: Taking APS Beyond California’s Borders

Phoenix, AZ- More than 200 students and professionals attended the Southwestern Conference, at the Sheraton Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona on

Saturday March 29th, 2008. High School students were encouraged to go on to higher education, college and university students were urged to complete their studies. “You can be a big help with a high school diploma, but you can make a bigger difference with a degree,” said Antonio Gaona, a local Pastor and community leader, who welcomed students from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho and Utah to the city of Phoenix.

The conference started off with an introduction of the organization by Bigvai Estrada, member of the Board of Directors.  Mr. Estrada briefly exposed the new Southwestern members to the history of APS.  After seeing the impressive background of APS, along with photographs of previous events, Mr. Estrada was followed by a panel of graduate students.

The panel was made up of students at varying levels of their education, such as: Joaquin Soto, 2008 Bachelor's Degree in Engineering at UCLA; Cesia Minemann, 2009 Juris Doctorate Candidate at UCLA School of Law, Bachelor's in Political Science and Human Rights at Bard College, NY; Vasni Briones, 2010 Master's in Social Work at USC, Bachelor's in Sociology at UCLA; and Nicholas Ynda, 2010 Juris Doctorate candidate at UC Hastings School of the Law, Bachelor's in Political Science at the University of California, Riverside.  Each of these students related their stories of balancing acts between family life, the practice of their faith and their academic struggles.  One of them, Mr. Ynda, introduced the audience to what he calls "tag team education."  As a married couple, he and his wife, Deborah Ynda, have had to balance the hardships of University living, and the satisfaction of raising a family.

After the panel, Yobani Chacon spoke to the members present about the importance of obtaining a higher education.  He urged them to follow the examples of success found within their community such as the panel that had preceded him, and to use those as motivation to "push forth their own personal dreams."  "All of those dreams can be accomplished, as long as we decide to pursue them," he encouraged the young students.

Following Mr. Chacon's motivational speech, students were invited to take part of a networking lunch and a small college fair. Among the participating colleges were: The University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University, University of Phoenix, and Arizona State University. Students took an opportunity to gather admissions materials and to ask the present college representatives questions regarding the institution's academic programs of study.