National Hispanic Business Association

By: Edgard Gonzalez
San Jose State University

This year has been a true exiting experience for me. I have met many great and inspiring fellow students. I didn't expect so many people to have the same belief in the NHBA vision as I do. There are many Latino students who want to make a change and strive for a better and successful future. I see that all the chapters work together and become one community. I admire how schools work together for one common goal. The goal is network and to excel in the world together.

As I started as the Western Regional Representative, I needed to get my motivation going. I needed to get my feet wet before I jumped in the water. I sent E-mails and made calls to introduce myself. I didn't get rolling until the regional symposium in Santa Barbara. That is when I started to get going. I met pretty much everyone and more. I made relationships so that I can build and network as one unified organization. My goal was to build communications between all the western schools and keep all the school up to date with NHBA events. I keep in touch with many Presidents as well as officers in the organizations of the universities. I made a facebook group or community specifically for the western schools. This way I can email and message the members as well as the officers with any events from NHBA or events from any University. It seems like these days, a social network or the Internet is a better source of communication than e-mail.

One of my main goals is keep everyone on the same page. I want to provide information to all the members ahead of time so they can plan ahead for these events. I want people to depend on me and so far I have been reached with questions. I have followed up with UCLA to make sure they are wanted in NHBA. I want them to feel part of this community. I am also working on Berkley so that they can return to NHBA. I have also requested the Leadership packet and sent them out to all the presidents and reps from the western region universities.

Many universities are having their end of the year banquet, especially this month. I have been invited to most banquets, but can only make it to a few. I am attending Pomonas, Fresnos, Santa Cruz, and hopefully others. This is a great way to show my support and build relationships.