LT’s chapter of the National Hispanic Institute (NHI) took a step towards addressing a long-lasting deficiency in the overall NHI community: a general sense of isolation between various NHI chapters in the Chicagoland area.

“We have a history of being disorganized and not really being in contact with one-and-other,” Alicia Camuy ‘18, outgoing president of NHI, said.

On May 18, the NHI club at LT held and organized an event entitled Tarde Milagros—which translates to late miracle in English—as an opportunity for the NHI chapters in attendance to share their methods, help open lines of communications and to network with different NHI chapters.

“We thought it would be beneficial to every NHI club in the midwest to get together and kind-of talk about what’s been going on throughout the year and try to plan different events that can help each club grow,” NHI president Iris Quintero ‘19 said.

According to Camuy, Tarde was inspired by a weekend-long event in Texas that she attended where NHI chapters in the area gathered and prepared for upcoming events that year. She cites that as inspiring her to utilize an event like that to bring greater cohesion between local chapters in Chicagoland.

“I saw that and I wanted to turn that into something that could be beneficial for the entire midwest,” Camuy said.

She added: “I had all of these ideas in my head of community networking and I was like, ‘How can we make our club better?’ By applying these ideas that we have and bring it out—not just in our local community—but also to the midwest region.”

NC Room 140 hosted schools such as Palatine High School, Round Lake High School, Warren High School and Park Jr High School for the event, featuring food, music and discussion.

The attendees shared information about their chapters and their schools, the issues they as hispanic individuals face and various strategies the chapters utilize for fundraising and other important aspects of their operation.

“We are trying to get know one and other, first of all, and then using those bonds and those connections and that network to further the progress of each of our clubs,” Camuy said.

Palatine High School student Andrea Morales ‘20 said that—even though she only learned about the event that morning—she thought that it was a valuable opportunity to glean a better understanding of surrounding NHI clubs.

“I wanted to go when I heard of this,” Morales said. “This is a perfect opportunity to learn more about how other people from NHI are investing in their club and what they do and how we can bring that back to our own club.”

Other attendees felt the event offered an opportunity to safely share their experiences.

“This is the place where it is safe to speak your mind, tell other students about it… That’s one of the things I’m really gaining from here,” Round Lake High School student Gabriel Soto-Miranda ‘18 said. “I’m here because of my culture, I’m here to show other cultures what our culture is about.”

NHI’s sponsor Yadira Cisneros said that the participants are also gaining a greater frame of reference when it comes to who they are seeing at larger NHI events and competitions.

“Now we can put a face to a name,” Cisneros said. “We have that connection with them, like ‘we were at Tarde together.’ Not just for myself but for those participating in summer leadership programs. We want them to have a familiar face outside of LT.”