Meet Alec Corral, OneStar | VISTA Spotlight

In our VISTA Spotlight, our OneStar AmeriCorps VISTA members share in their own words about the transformative experience of serving with nonprofits and agencies in Texas working to eliminate poverty.

Alec Corral- Young Women's College Preparatory Network- Community Engagement and Development VISTA- Sisterhood Month
When I arrived at the Young Women's Leadership Academy in the Ysleta District my Development Manager had already received a grant from the Teacher's College Columbia University for Project Belonging. One of my first duties on campus was recruiting students to join the project team. At first, it was a bit slow to recruit students but they eventually came in. The students piled in and began coming up with ideas on their own. They came up with the idea for an entire month of sisterhood activities to happen at the school and to create a sense of belonging for students of all grades. It was impactful to see them work on posters, making Canvas for Instagram posts, making schedules, and creating decorations for the events. The students chose the activities, the games, the rewards, and gave many volunteer hours after school for the project. It was heartwarming and enriching to see young leaders showing up for the project and seeing it through. This project made me extremely proud to be an AmeriCorps VISTA and extremely lucky to have worked with the young leaders at Ysleta Young Women's Leadership Academy.