25 Weeks of Gratitude: César Montaña: Gratitude for a Community That Opens Doors

25 Weeks of Gratitude

When César Montaña looks back on his senior year at Nettleton High School in Jonesboro, he sees more than a final year of classes, activities and graduation milestones. He sees the year a community helped him clarify his future, strengthen his confidence and understand more deeply what it means to lead.

César, who plans to attend Arkansas State University this fall to study pre-med and music performance, was part of the Hispanic Emerging Leaders Program, administered by El Centro Hispano in Jonesboro. The year-round program gave him opportunities to explore careers, prepare for college and connect with people and organizations committed to helping students succeed.

Gina Gomez, executive director of El Centro Hispano, said the program was created to give Hispanic students the same kinds of leadership and career-exploration opportunities available through other community programs, with an added emphasis on representation and belonging – all of which made it perfect for a grant from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas.

“The whole purpose is to help students know what the community is like in terms of business,” César said.

The program also supported students with college preparation, including ACT study sessions, campus visits and opportunities to meet representatives from schools and organizations across Arkansas.

Gomez said the program also aims to build confidence and leadership skills among students who may not immediately see themselves in those roles.

“We need more leaders in the Hispanic community,” she said. “We need those leaders who are going to take our places tomorrow.”

One of César’s most memorable experiences was an overnight trip that included visits to colleges and health-related institutions in Fayetteville and Little Rock. He said it was meaningful to see people outside his immediate community investing in students like him.

“It was really cool seeing how people so far away from here were willing to help communities such as ours,” he said. “Who could have imagined these people – they also want to help me. I think that’s really touching.”

The program meets once a month during the school year, giving students a full day of learning outside the traditional classroom. Students gather at El Centro Hispano and then visit employers, hospitals, manufacturers and colleges.

Gomez said the goal is for students “to be informed and to make better decisions for tomorrow, college, career or workforce.”

For César, those experiences helped reveal the many ways people contribute to the health of a community. During hospital visits, he noticed not only doctors and nurses, but also the many professionals who contribute in other ways.

“There’s so many people working behind the scenes,” he said. “All you really see is doctors and nurses and administrators, but there’s also plumbers, engineers, electricians, and it’s really like a whole community working together to build itself up. And I wanted to be part of that.”

That realization helped César focus his interests. Before the program, he said he was considering several career paths, including teaching and healthcare. His interest in science and mathematics, combined with the program’s exposure to hospitals, colleges and mentors, helped him feel called toward medicine. He is currently thinking about pediatrics, while also considering research after spending the summer doing full-time research at Arkansas State.

The Hispanic Emerging Leaders Program also helped César find confidence and connection. Born in Venezuela, he moved to Jonesboro with his family in 2013 when he was about five years old. As a bilingual student, César said being part of a program designed for Hispanic emerging leaders helped him feel connected to a broader community.

“It really felt like I was a part,” he said. “The leaders that they’re trying to build here are ones that are trying to go and make an impact.”

César said he was shy at the beginning of the program, but the experience helped him come out of his shell. It also deepened his understanding of how much a community can shape a young person’s sense of purpose.

“The community affects you almost as much as you affect it,” he said. “Part of being a leader is wanting to make changes in your community. And I think it’s very important to instill that passion in young people to go and build their community.”

That mission is intentional. Gomez said the students selected for the program are “not necessarily the A-plus students or the most popular students, but often young people who may need encouragement, confidence or exposure to new possibilities. The program helps them see a range of futures, from four-year college to skilled trades and entrepreneurship.

“You have the opportunity in this country to become a business owner,” she said. “You don’t have to always think about working for somebody else.”

Mentorship was another important part of César’s experience. He credited Juanita Acosta, his mentor, with helping him explore opportunities and connect with people at colleges and in the medical field. Through the program, he also met professors, company representatives and professionals he said he never would have known otherwise.

“I don’t think I would have made as many connections,” César said. “I made some friends here. I met Juanita. She’s awesome. She helps me a bunch.”

As he prepares for college and the next steps toward a future in medicine, Cesar carries with him a sense of gratitude for the people who made time for students and believed in their potential. He said the program’s staff were essential to its impact.

Support from community partners also helps make those experiences possible. Gomez said private funding is “vital for the operations” of programs like Hispanic Emerging Leaders.

“We are very grateful for the Blue & You Foundation and all our partners,” she said, “if not for them, we wouldn’t be able to have these types of programs at the Hispanic Center.”

For students who might have the chance to participate in the Hispanic Emerging Leaders Program, César’s advice is simple: don’t miss it.

“You don’t know what opportunities you could lose,” he said. “You don’t know what experiences might impact you forever. And I think it’d just be terrible to miss out.”

 

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Blue & You Foundation, 25 Weeks of Gratitude spotlights 25 stories of Arkansans whose lives have been impacted by Foundation-funded work.

*The Blue & You Foundation was established in 2001 through an initial gift from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Since its inception, the Foundation’s financial base has grown through wise and prudent investment strategies. This has enabled the foundation to support its mission by making grants funded by the interest earned on those investments.