When Brittney Vicente Mendoza visited Ohio State for Latin America Day in 2025, she could picture herself on campus.

“When I visited campus for Latin America Day in 2025, I knew I wanted to come to Ohio State,” said Vicente Mendoza, now a first-year nursing major. “I absolutely loved the campus because I could imagine myself studying at Ohio State. My favorite session was the Portuguese class; it was fun, and that’s why I took that class this year.”

A year later, Vicente Mendoza returned to Latin America Day — this time as an undergraduate volunteer helping welcome high school students to campus.

Hosted each spring by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), Latin America Day has brought more than 100 central Ohio high school students to Ohio State for a glimpse of undergraduate life and an introduction to academic topics connected to Latin America.

This year, students from Delaware Hayes and Westerville Central participated in sociology and plant pathology sessions taught by Reanne Frank and Soledad Benitez Ponce, and language classes in Portuguese, Quechua and Spanish for heritage speakers.

For Vicente Mendoza, volunteering was a way to share the experience that helped shape her own college plans.

“Being involved made my high school experience memorable, and it made me realize that it is up to us whether we want to make school and college a fun experience,” she said. “I chose to make college a memorable experience, which is why I wanted to volunteer for this event. I wanted to share my experience and hopefully impact the high school students.”

Other Ohio State undergraduates also volunteered, helping students navigate campus and learn more about academic opportunities.

Siya Gulia, a business and economics major and Foreign Language and Area Studies fellow in Portuguese, said the event shows students that Latin American studies can connect to many fields.

“When high school students think about college, they are only thinking of a select few majors and areas of studies that might not align with their interests or identity,” Gulia said. “Showing them just how unique and layered their college experience can be is incredibly important.”

Gabby DeMarco, an international studies major specializing in international affairs and diplomacy, Spanish minor and spring 2026 CLAS intern, said Latin America Day gives students a more personal view of campus.

The event “allows younger students to get a more authentic display of what college life looks like in comparison to more general campus tours,” DeMarco said.

Faculty members said the event helps students better understand what learning looks like in a university classroom.

“Students get a preview on what a college class could look like, including how different professors might approach teaching differently,” Benitez Ponce said. “It might ‘demystify’ college, by actually interacting with professors in a small class setting.”

Ana Carolina dos Santos Marques, Portuguese language coordinator in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, said it was meaningful to see Vicente Mendoza, now one of her students, return as a volunteer after participating as a high school student.

“I usually focus on aspects of Brazil, and they are often excited to realize how much they already recognize through music, artists, internet culture and social media,” dos Santos Marques said. “Since many of them have some background in Spanish, they also enjoy seeing how accessible Portuguese can feel.”

Teachers who accompanied students to campus said the event offered valuable exposure to college life and helped students connect classroom learning with future opportunities.

Pablo Chignolli, a Spanish teacher at Westerville Central, said many of his students appreciated getting “a sense of what a real college classroom environment is like.”

For Fatjona Ndreu, an English learner teacher at Hayes, the experience was especially meaningful because it was the first time many of her students had visited Ohio State. Seeing Vicente Mendoza thriving as an undergraduate was “inspiring and motivating,” she said, and helped students recognize the opportunities available to them.

“This experience was so much fun,” Vicente Mendoza said. “My favorite part was giving the tour and sharing my experience on campus. It was especially fun because I gave a tour to my high school teachers. They were telling me how proud they were, and it honestly made my day.”