While students from Manhattan High have attended the annual Hispanic American Leadership Organization conference at Kansas State University for many years, it hasn’t always been as part of an official club.

In fact, the idea of MHS’s Hispanic Student Union came from attending the conference a few years ago, after attendees were informed of many benefits to having a Hispanic Club in the high school.

Students will attend this years HALO conference on Oct. 23. The conference provides many opportunities for a lot of students. You are able to meet many new Hispanics from all over Kansas and even meet some new ones in your own town.

“Not only is it people from Manhattan, it’s more people from some different places around Kansas and you also get to see that your school is big and there is more Hispanics than you know,” secretary of the HSU, sophomore, Jacklyn Hernández said.

The HALO conference is very eye opening for many students because it can show them just how involved one could be in learning about their own culture.

“[The conference] is what helped us to get motivated to start the club so I want the students this year to be motivated to participate in the club,” co-president, senior, Rafael Cuevas-Leon said.

The conference also shows students some of the people out there who care about Hispanics and are invested in their culture.

“There are other people out there who are teaching other people the Hispanic culture,” Vice president, junior, Ángel Aguirre Torres said. “See[ing] non Hispanics and Hispanics get along and celebrate and learn about a culture…will help a lot of people get closer to each other.”

The students are all excited to see the new opportunities, relationships and ideas that this year’s HALO conference will bring.

“There are actually people that talk and tell their own life experience,” Cuevas-Leon said. “[They] make us  feel like nothing can stop us as Hispanics. We can do whatever comes to our heads.”