Meet Our Scholars
Bentura Salazar
Front Range Community College
STEM
He/Him/His
Community College
Wells Fargo Scholarship
Bentura Salazar grew up in several places along the Colorado foothills north of Denver. After becoming a ward of the state in the Spring of 2007, Bentura moved every year between foster families, his loving aunt’s home, and both of his parent’s homes. This drifting made him feel isolated without a sense of community, which was later compounded when he discovered he was gay in the 6th grade. By high school, Bentura had found others in the LGBTQ+ community and his own community within a local peer education group called OASOS (Opening And confirming Sexual Orientation / gender identity Support). For two years, he worked within this group and another called Collie’s Closet to help educate his peers in local high schools and middle schools. He gave them the language and emotional support tools needed if they were questioning themselves. He also provided suicide prevention and awareness support from Collie’s Closet, as rates of suicide are higher in the LGBTQ+ community. Bentura is attending Front Range Community College where he hopes to get an Associate of Science degree and transfer to a four-year university. He aims to obtain a teaching degree and become a high school science teacher, along with being an advising teacher for the school’s GSA (or equivalent) group and be their color guard instructor. He wants to help create a community for future generations, especially those who feel disconnected.