Gables senior Paulina Texier has recently been designated as a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. The Gablette captain was one of the 480 selected of an applicant pool of 7,663 students, from 47 states, Puerto Rico, DC and the US Virgin Islands. HSF Scholars have access to a full range of invaluable support services including career services, mentorship, leadership development, knowledge building and wellness training. Part of their contract in accepting the scholar designation is to give back to HSF during and after college, which highlights how being awarded this distinction continues on even after the student’s academic career.

Texier notes that being an HSF scholar entails being a part of a community of Hispanic students and mentors that support students in their career goals and college journey. Some responsibilities of being a HSF Scholar include having to enroll at a US accredited university to keep your status, getting a degree and participating as a mentor or scholar in at least one of HSF’s events. Texier received the scholar designation by attending the Youth Leadership Institute, a 4-day event in conjunction with the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California.

The Youth Leadership Institute generally consists of students nationwide meeting up with high achieving Latinos and mentors who were once in the scholars’ position. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, Texier and the other HSF scholars were unable to attend this year’s conference in-person, which would have been held at UChicago. However, they were still able to create goals for the future, learn about how to apply to college and succeed in future jobs.

“It makes me hopeful for a much better Latin demographic in the workforce,” senior Paulina Texier said.

To receive this designation, the application process mostly consisted of answering questions about her grades and the classes she took. Texier had to write a 300 word essay about what people would find out about her if they looked her up in 30 years.This scholarship has helped Texier build up her network as she has met people from all over the country with such big aspirations.

“Diversity in the workforce is extremely vital for future generations, especially when it comes to STEM fields where we don’t see much of it,” senior Jasming Senel said.

In the future, Texier would like to pursue a career as an astronaut. Explaining that she barely sees any Latino last names when she looks through popular STEM research, Texier feels disconnected from the authors. Living in Miami has made her realize how our large Latino community has been a support system she never knew she had.

“Just realizing that these doctors and engineers came from the same place you’re at right now is so important and a lot of people don’t notice that because they don’t need to. If they’ve always thought they would succeed in STEM chances are they aren’t a minority,” senior Paulina Texier said.

A takeaway that Texier learned from the conference would be the mottos they used. She recalls the phrase “trying pistachio ice cream” which just means to try everything before you decide what you like and what you don’t like. Texier holds out hope that in the future, either as a scholar or mentor, she will receive the full HSF experience, and be able to help others try their own “pistachio ice cream”.