CAMP provides support for migrant students

During his high school years, Freshman Ricardo Alvarado did not have the most conventional summer job.

Rather than passing the time working in the fast food or retail industries like many high school students, Alvarado and his family left their home in the small agricultural town of Edcouch, Texas each summer to pick berries on a Utah farm.

While the pay for this work was helpful for the family, it was not enough to secure a college future for Alvarado.

However, the College Assistance Migrant Program at St. Edward’s University offered financial support for this endeavor, and Alvarado said he is grateful for it.

“I wouldn’t have been able to pay to go here, so the CAMP program really helped me out,” Alvarado said. “It got me where I am today.”

CAMP has been providing migrant farm workers and their children with financial support at St. Edward’s for 37 years.

Brought to the university in 1972, the federally funded program provides annual college assistance for roughly 2,000 first year undergraduates nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

St. Edward’s University’s CAMP Coordinator, Linda Valdez said there are 35 freshman CAMP scholars, and approximately 98 upperclassman CAMP scholars currently enrolled at St. Edward’s.

St. Edward's is one of 10 universities in the state providing financial assistance to CAMP students.

This year, St. Edward’s was awarded more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Education to help continue the program. Valdez said the funds are to be dispersed over the next five years, ensuring that more CAMP students will have the opportunity to study at St. Edward’s in the coming years.

While Alvarado said that finding financial support is the largest hurdle in deciding to pursue a college career, CAMP provides a variety of additional support.

Freshman CAMP student Esteban Balboa said he meets with his upperclassman CAMP mentor weekly, and his academic advisor monthly, to talk about his academic progress. All of the CAMP students also get together monthly to discuss these issues as a group.

It is a process that began before the students ever stepped foot in the classroom.

CAMP participants were offered the opportunity to come for a weeklong orientation session over the summer for help with study skills and academic support. Students were able to work with professors one-on-one in order to gauge their preparedness for classes at St. Edward’s. The sessions aimed to educate on a wide scope of collegiate subjects, but were focused heavily on math and the English language.

While Alvarado is proficient in English, he still found the sessions to be extremely helpful. He said that the knowledge he gained over the summer has really helped him in his classes this year.

To further ease the transition to college life, the CAMP students arrived on campus for the start of the school year another week earlier for “enlightenment week” activities.

“It was just for us to get to know each other,” Balboa said. “So that when we started school, we wouldn’t be by ourselves coming into our new environment.”

Balboa’s decision to study at St. Edward’s was twofold. He was first introduced to the university on a school visit during his sophomore year of high school. He liked the small feel of St. Edward’s, but the CAMP program, and the funding it would promise also attracted him.

Balboa grew up in Nebraska, but moved to Mission, Texas shortly before he began high school. However, they still return to Nebraska each summer to work in meat packing facilities. While Balboa has not worked in the plants himself, he has sometimes worked on farms for weeks at a time during the summer months in order to assist friends and earn extra money.

Some of the CAMP students and their parents will continue to work in the agricultural industry during summers and holidays.

While Alvarado’s parents have presently managed to find higher paying jobs in their hometown, he may still return to Utah this summer. Alvarado’s decision is not solely influenced by the work. Rather, he would like to return to spend time with family and friends.

Nestled in the Rio Grande Valley, the Hidalgo County town of Edcouch does not have the infrastructure to support year-round employment for its roughly 4,600 residents.

So, in summer months, when the arid climate grows too warm to support many of the regions crops, residents find temporary homes throughout the country picking seasonal fruits and vegetables. Utah berry farms are a popular choice, and much of Alvarado’s extended family makes the yearly journey there.

And while some CAMP students are content to return to agricultural work during the summers, they know that their degrees, which range across the university’s areas of study, will help them to pursue a variety of careers.

And Balboa said he is thankful for that opportunity and appreciates the program.
“It’s a very good program,” he said. “It helps you a lot, financially, yeah, but it’s also like an extra support system.”