The Modesto Junior College Office of Counseling presents “Homeboy Goes to Harvard” with guest speaker Richard Santana, Ed.M., on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in Sierra Hall, room 132, on West Campus, 2001 Blue Gum Ave., Modesto. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Parking is available for $2 in campus lots.

Once a tough-talking Latino gangster, now a college-educated, nationally recognized speaker, Santana’s journey provides a powerful and graphic illustration of cultural relevance in schools. His moving accounts of his gang-life experiences and how they shaped his beliefs, attitudes and self-expectations are inspiring, unsettling and thought-provoking. He challenges his audience to critically assess their own perceptions and helps them to recognize how these perceptions influence work relationships, effectiveness and productivity.

Santana’s message is one of making choices: between hope and hopelessness, between evaluating young people based upon our own standards or accepting them in the context of their own, between giving up on our most challenged youth or truly becoming their advocates.

Founder of Homeboy Goes To Harvard Productions, Santana shares his story as a third generation gang member who went on to earn a Master’s degree from Harvard University. He demonstrates to students and educators how he accomplished the change that occurred in his life – the change that can occur in anyone’s life.

For more information on this event contact Ariana Gonzalez, MJC counselor, at (209) 575-6607.