1995 Rio Grande City High School Alum Juan Carlos Salinas with seniors from Grulla High School.
A 1995 graduate of Rio Grande City High School, Juan Carlos Salinas has never forgotten the community that gave him his start. And during a recent visit home, he made an important stop at Grulla High School to help students start believing they are capable of anything, that an Ivy League education is well within their grasp.
“There are a lot of great colleges everywhere, but the professors you will access to will blow your minds. You take classes with the leading experts in the world,” he said of attending universities like Yale, Harvard and Princeton. “It’s a small community and it is like your family. You get to meet people from all over the world and you will find they are a lot more like you than you might think.”
Salinas, who earned his bachelor’s from The University of Texas at Austin, went on to earn his master’s from Yale University. Now he is the chair of the Yale Latino Alumni Association and he says studying at Yale is something he wished he had done sooner.
“Don’t settle; reach for more. Don’t automatically go for a college that’s in the Valley or state because it’s comfortable. Take that risk. I wish I had reached for the stars and applied to Yale sooner,” he expressed. “Being from Starr County is a strength when applying to universities like these because there aren’t many applicants from here. Applying shows that you are inspired, that you believe in yourself. It shows you believe you are a leader and that’s what they are looking for.”
“Also, you are going to be able to contribute a lot more financially to your family and community if you go to an Ivy League school,” he continued. “And the alumni network you will have access to is unbelievable. For instance, I never thought I would be in the same room as Bill Clinton and shake Hillary Clinton’s hand. It gives you amazing opportunities.”
Some of the students’ questions concerned funding.
“You should not worry at all about the price tag,” he assured students. “There are a lot of opportunities for grants and other aid. These universities want diversity and they know great minds come from everywhere. Just remember, nothing worth having is easy and you have to fight for it.”
His final message was for parents on how to prepare students for an Ivy League future.
“We need to teach our children critical thinking skills,” he concluded. “Parents need to encourage children to question and be curious about the world. Encourage children to watch the news and understand what is going on in the world beyond their city, region and state. Read with your children and have your children read. It sparks imagination.”