Essay and creative contest winners were announced at the 10th Annual Hispanic/LatinX Research & Creativity Symposium.
The Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic & International Communication hosted the annual event awarding student scholarship prizes for essay and creative works, followed by a keynote address about the evolution of the animated Mexican superhero by Virginia Tech Professor and Spring 2025 Scholar-in-Residence Vinodh Venkatesh, Ph.D., on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
The virtual presentations highlighted themes and issues related to U.S. Hispanic media and marketing, as well as provided students and faculty the opportunity to present their work.
The keynote address was followed by the presentation of scholarships for student content winners exhibiting artistic creative works and essays.
Essay Contest Winners
1st Place Rishika Vats
Embracing Diversity: Finding Home at a Hispanic-Serving Institution
"When I first arrived at Texas Tech University as an international student from India, I was excited yet overwhelmed. I had left behind my family, my friends, my language, my food, and everything that was familiar to me. But I was determined to find a sense of belonging in this new world. What I did not expect was that I would find that home in a culture that, at first, seemed so different from mine—Hispanic and Latinx culture." - Rishika Vats
2nd Place Israel Reyes
We The People: Finding Nuestra Casa At An HSI
3rd Place Janaea Pedregon
Untitled
Orgullo y Poder Art Contest Winners
1st Place Omar Cantero Dejando Huella/Leaving Your Mark: The Story of Emma Eivers
Watch the first-place winning video documentary by Omar Cantero.
“Dejando Huella/Leaving Your Mark” is a documentary about the life of Emma Eivers, a partially paralyzed polio survivor. Along with being unable to move from the neck down to her waist, she is also incapable of breathing or swallowing. At eleven years old, Mexico-born Emma had to live in an iron lung to survive. She was expected to pass away at a young age, but she and her family thought otherwise and put their faith in God. Her father sacrificed his own freedom and daughter when he sent her to the United States to be properly treated by giving her up for adoption.
2nd Place Liliana Villegas “We the People” - Baile Folklórico Barbies
3rd Place Lucero Guzman Resplendent
