Helping Latino students into leadership roles begins with a college experience. Latino students are the largest and fastest growing student population within community colleges, yet they are less likely to graduate. Blame is often placed on minority students and their families for the students' poor academic performance. Deficit thinking models have impacted this way of thinking and this adds to the variety of factors that prevent students' from successfully completing a college degree. An

more »

... sis of nine Latino students' college experiences was examined to determine the types of barriers that were evident. Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race narrative theory were used to highlight the voices and experiences of Latino students. Student perception of the barriers were described along with how they overcame these barriers. Narrative data, literature and researcher professional and personal experiences were used to find common themes that impacted Latino students' completion of college, they are as follows: 1) family-support, 2) peer-support, 3) cultural-mentoring, and 4) the resilienceresistance skills, which students bring to the higher education system. The findings of this study provide evidence of the investment in education that Latino families have when they feel accepted within a higher education setting.