Leadership lived: Future counselor enjoys the challenge of the Capital Scholars Honors Program

When Alice Caceres-Turcios was looking for a place to attend college, she knew she wanted to be challenged academically. She found the perfect fit in the Capital Scholars Honors Program at the University of Illinois Springfield.

“I enjoy doing the difficult readings, I enjoy doing papers and I enjoy doing research,” she said “In looking at the Honors Program here at UIS, it really did emphasize interdisciplinarity, which is something that I never really knew about until I got here.”

Caceres-Turcios, a psychology major with a focus on clinical counseling, is now a peer mentor for the Honors Program, helping to guide younger students. She also recently spoke to perspective students during an Honors Program Open House.

“I basically helped answer questions and concerns that they had about what it's like to be in the Honors Program and some of the advantages,” she said.

On campus, Caceres-Turcios works as a Student Ambassador in the Office of Admissions. She gives campus tours to prospective students and families and helps with office tasks and outreach.

She’s also involved in several campus organizations. She is president and mental health advocacy chair for the Psychology Club and is vice president for the National Society of Leadership and Success, an honor society chapter on campus.

However, much of her work focuses on being the president of the PERIOD Club. The club was created two years ago to raise awareness about menstruation.

“It’s not really something that's talked about in our society,” she said. “We usually try to fundraise money to provide products for women in homeless shelters and last semester we actually were able to provide products to two homeless shelters locally.”

Following graduation from UIS, she would like to become a grief counselor or a college counselor at either a university or a high school.

She’s glad she made the decision to come to UIS.

“(UIS) has taught me a lot about myself,” she said. “When I first came here I was pretty shy, but because of the amount or responsibility and the amount of opportunities since I've gotten to UIS it really taught me that I am capable of doing great things.”