The Minority Student Alliance of Skyline College is hosting their first annual transition-into-college conference called “Making the Connection” for high school students and their parents on Feb. 25.

Invitations were sent out to all high schools in San Mateo County and San Francisco for students and their parents to attend the conference promoting college education, specifically targeting students of color.

“There are certain populations of students that are not traditionally well represented in college, primarily students of color,” said Liza Erpelo, a coordinator of the event. “One of the goals of the Minority Student Alliance is to show that we can get more students of color into college”.

The Minority Student Alliance is composed of five Skyline student organizations consisting of the Latino American Student Organization, the Filipino and Black Student Unions, the Pre-Medical Student Association, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

They have been preparing for the conference since last spring, when they received the funding from Skyline’s President’s Innovation Fund.

The conference will include keynote speakers, student speakers, and workshops, some of which will be run by students of the Minority Student Alliance. The workshops will cover things like how to choose a career path and overcoming fears in math.

Besides Skyline, representatives from other colleges including San Francisco State, UC San Diego, Stanford, and UCLA will be here to hold workshops.

“One thing that parents have to understand is that it’s not always just about getting into a UC or CSU,” said Erpelo. “It’s ok to start at a community college, there’s no prestige lost, there’s nothing wrong, it’s not like you’re getting a lower education”.