TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough Community College (HCC) is working to connect with its growing Hispanic population through several bilingual awareness events at all five of its campuses.

Ivan Mesa is the founder of the council known as Somos HCC, which organizes the events. He says the events aim to spread awareness of resources and careers available to students and families in their native language of Spanish.

“I think that it is important that we can bring the whole family. We don’t see just one single member, just the young student, but if you think most of our people isn’t only young students, we have people from all ages,” he said.

According to Mesa, HCC has about 38% of Hispanic students across all its five campuses.

Victoria Romero is a student at HCC in Ybor and she’s striving to make sure her Latino counterparts are continuing to succeed at HCC.

“The goal is to be the voice of students,” she says.

Using her voice has been Romero’s mission since the moment she joined student government as president at Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor campus.

Romero is proud of all she has accomplished since enrolling in college. She says it’s also a decision some of her Latino peers shy away from.

“I actually have friends who thought that when we were in high school that college wasn’t an option because they’re Hispanic and they don’t have the money to go to college,” she reveals.

HCC is working to change that perception, by welcoming Latinos to HCC with events like “bilingual awareness” where students and their families can learn about the opportunities and resources available to them.

For Romero, she hopes opening the door for other Latino students will help broaden their career goals just like it has for her.

Romero is striving to be part of the 5% of Latino psychologists nationwide.

“Psychology has always been really important to me, as someone who comes from a background of struggling with mental health, just a family with a lot of mental health struggles, I’ve always wanted to give back to people who may feel too scared to reach out to get help,” she says.

She’ll not only be helping others with her degree, but following in her mother’s footsteps as well.

Her mother also studied psychology in her home country and it served as inspiration for Romero as she was preparing to decide what her major would be.

Romero says HCC is allowing current Latino students to become role models for others.

“As a Hispanic person, I hope that people see me and say, 'Oh, I can do that, too,'” Romero says.

As a leader within her college community, Romero hopes others will see themselves in her and possibly for themselves.