A recent Graceland alumna is involved in work that is making a dramatic impact on minority high school students in Iowa. Melissa Esquivel, from the Class of 2005, has founded and is shepherding the Iowa Youth Congress, a group that provides minority students a voice in Iowa state government and a chance to believe in themselves.
In a state where there is a tiny minority population and very few minority legislators (no Latinos), minority students can feel alienated from the process of government. It is easy for them to get lost outside the system, perhaps never to find themselves in a position where they can make a difference. For many of these students a marginal destiny is what they expect. Melissa wants to change that perception and unlike many who have great intentions but no follow-through, Melissa is making change happen. (Pictured is Melissa with IYC leaders)
Melissa is a program planner for the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs (with the Iowa Department of Human Rights) and three years ago she brainstormed the Iowa Youth Congress (IYC) into existence. It is comprised now of 100 students from 38 high schools across the state. Simply stated, their job is to bring important issues to the attention of the Iowa Legislature, issues that deeply impact high school students, especially minority students.
They convene each November in the House Chambers at the State Capitol to decide on three issues to put forth to their representatives. This year, for example, the IYC will propose to the legislature that the minimum high-school dropout age be raised from 16 to 18. This is one 
of the primary problems facing minority students statewide - they must stay in school to get maximum benefit of public education, to reach their potential. Making sex education - realistic sex education - mandatory in public high schools is another key issue. Surprise pregnancies very often end in dropping out of high school. (Pictured is the IYC meeting in the Iowa House chambers)
When you talk to Melissa her enthusiasm zaps you through the telephone line. You get it very quickly about why the IYC has been so successful and why it is getting so much attention at the statehouse and across Iowa. It is Melissa's vision and drive that is making it happen. And, you also get it very quickly that she credits her years at Graceland with preparing her for a stellar future that is now coming true.
Melissa was recruited by Graceland's Dewey Clark out of Kennedy High School in San Antonio. Dewey saw her play softball there and she came to Graceland on a softball scholarship. But, she wasn't totally prepared for the academic side of college. That's where the federally-funded program Student Support Services (SSS) and its terrific staff here at Graceland entered Melissa's life. Director Cathie Hosie and Melissa's SSS Academic Advisor Barbara Sutherland gave her the support and guidance she so badly needed. They literally saved her college career - SSS offers tutoring and many other services to at-risk, first-generation, college students. Along the way Cathie and Barbara (who Melissa calls "mom") also gave Melissa opportunities to build her confidence and self-esteem, and that has led her along a path to success and great pride in her work.
Melissa says of Graceland and the SSS program, "I would not have made it without Barbara's help. Without the support of the Graceland community and Student Support Services I would not have become the first individual in my family to graduate from college."
Now it is Melissa's turn to help others build their life skills and she approaches her quest with a zeal you don't come across every day. Her work with the IYC gives minority high school students support and guidance, and along the way (and it is a very cool way) they also build confidence and self-esteem. And, they learn about state government, how it works, what is necessary to get involved. They learn that they have a voice, a voice that will be heard. They learn that they can succeed in life, professionally and personally. One of the IYC delegates (who are chosen by their high-school peers, by the way - 20 each from five regions) straightened out his life and has gone on to Yale University. Many IYC members have chosen Political Science as their major in college. Melissa has many stories of lives turned around, of futures coming into focus.
Sometimes it takes a little help to succeed in life. Sometimes it takes a thoughtful nudge, a pat on the back, to inspire confidence. Melissa is certainly a great example of how it all works. And now, as if destiny is playing a role, she is involved in life work that, as the movie from a few years ago urged, allows her to Pay it Forward.
There is also a great postscript to this story. When the IYC convenes at the state capitol in November, Melissa helps arrange a job fair so colleges and universities can take a look at this crop of great potential students. Graceland always sends a representative to the fair and Melissa goes out of her way to tell IYC students about how her alma mater on "the Hill" in southern Iowa turned her life around. Thanks, Melissa, for all you do for Graceland, and the best of luck to you for a future that looks to be dazzling. We know your story will be an inspiration to our current students, an inspiration for them too to Pay it Forward.
