UCF’s CREAR Futuros program pairs Latino students with peer tutors to help them do well in school and get ready for community service and work.
The name of the school, CREAR Futuros, means “making futures” in English. The website for the school says that CREAR stands for “college readiness, achievement, and retention.”
CREAR Futuros is part of the Hispanic Federation and helps first-year, second-year, and transfer students find a place to call home at UCF by matching them with an upper-class student.
Newer students are paired with more experienced students to help them get around college and make the move to UCF easy.
All students were welcome to attend the events that CREAR Futuros put on during the term. On October 16, the group held a Lunch and Learn event at the Student Union.
Andres Duque, a UCF graduate who was also a member of CREAR Futuros while he was on school, spoke as a guest.
People at the Lunch and Learn event heard from Duque about his path from being a student to working as an engineer.
“Greatness is possible if you work together, are strong, are creative, and are humble,” Duque said.
A senior in theater management named William Toro first met CREAR Futuros at a table-setting event in the Student Union.
“The bright red caught my eye right away,” Toro said.
Toro said he saw some students in bright red shirts and stopped to find out who they were and what they were selling.
Then he found out that they were CREAR Futuros teachers looking for students to join the program and become mentees. Following a talk with them, he joined right away.
“Everything went by so quickly, and I do not regret a thing,” Toro said.
Toro joined the program as a mentee when he was a sophomore and is now a peer guide.
Toro told them that he helps them by getting to know them and asking about their majors, goals, and when they plan to graduate.
Toro said, “The best thing about CREAR Futuros is that it is open to everyone, even though it is based on Latino arts and culture.”
This term, junior management major Maria Carrillo moved from Valencia College to UCF. Carrillo is a mentee with CREAR Futuros right now, and she meets with her peer coach once a month.
Carrillo said, “We talk about school, life, and goals we have outside of school. I also talk about how I feel about my classes and chances that can help me in my personal and professional life.”
Carrillo said she was afraid of being lost and being alone when she moved from Valencia College to UCF because of how many people go there.
Carrillo said, “What I like most about CREAR Futuros is that I have found a town and a family.” It would not have been better to start my first semester at UCF with any other group of kids.
Carrillo said that before she graduates from UCF, she wants to become a guide with CREAR Futuros and help other students find a place to belong and a group of people to talk to.
The website for the conference says that both Carrillo and Toro said they would be going to the yearly Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference in Aurora, Colorado. The conference is about the best ways to teach Hispanic students.
On both occasions, the students said they were going to improve their teaching skills and meet other CREAR Futuros students from different colleges.