This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clemson chapter.
Mario Alonso
From Charleston, S.C.
Computer Science and Management Major, minoring in Digital Production Arts
Class of 2016
Social Media Ambassador of Clemson’s Salsa Club
Why Clemson?
“I chose Clemson because throughout high school I had heard of its Science and Engineering Department and saw people who later graduated with good jobs, so it got me interested. Also i liked Clemson because it was only a 4 hour drive away from home, it wasn’t as expensive as other colleges, and I already knew a few people here.”
How has the experience been in assisting getting Clemson’s 1st Latino Fraternity off the ground? What do you hope this will do for the campus community at large?
“It has been a bit challenging getting it off the ground because not many people know about it yet, so recruiting people has been the hardest part. We are looking for people who are 100% motivated to do this, and really want to make an impact; not only on the Latino community at our school but at other schools too. Our hope is this fraternity will bring some stability to rising racial tensions on campus, while unifying the small population of latinos. Eventually what we want to do is go to local high schools in the area and help struggling Latino students who don’t know anything about what it takes to get into college in order to help them get on the right track. We want to give the next generation of Latino students something most of us never had, which was someone telling us what we needed to do to go to college and how to go about applying. Sure, the resources were there, but most of us didn’t know what a FASFA form, SAT’s, or unsubsidized loans were. Many of us [1st generation college students] had to teach ourselves without the help of anyone else and hope that we didn’t screw up somehow.”
What’s a highlight of being a Hispanic at Clemson?
“A highlight of being a Hispanic student on campus is being proud knowing that you are one of the few latinos who actually made it to one of the top 20 national public universities in the US and who will graduate with a better education than your parents ever had.”
What’s a downside of being a Hispanic at Clemson?
“A downside of being a Hispanic student on campus is that 98% of the time your usually the only Hispanic student in your class.”