Week 3

Hola readers, lets fill you in a little on how the third week of UCONN went. Well Tuesday of this past week marked the start of a very important month for Latinos. From September 15^th through October 15^th we celebrate Latino Heritage month. What more of an appropriate way to celebrate than to have the first day of Latino Heritage month also be the day of LSA’s (Latino Student Association) first biweekly meeting. At the meeting LSA executive board members introduced the organization and how it should be used as a resource. They spoke of how they would bring in speakers and host de-stress game nights around the times exams seem to get heavier. All in all it introduced itself as an ideal organization for someone who wants to be involved, but doesn’t want to feel obligated to attend every meeting. They offer very flexible hours. So for the student readers who are looking to get involved LSA is highly recommended (and of course it is not strictly for Latinos all are welcome).

However, September 15^th was also a crucial day for many student organizations. It began the month count down for a very large event held at the university during homecoming week called lip-sync. Lip-sync is quite possibly the biggest competition between the cultural centers, Greek life, and student organizations on campus. It is a huge dance competition (and lip-syncing of course) held at Gample Pavilion (our designated basketball stadium). The organizations involved practice day and night to get their seven minute show routine exactly on point. It is an exciting moment to perform at lip-sync because it is a performance in front of all our peers.Gample Pavilion ends up full of students waiting to watch the exciting competition. Working so closely with PRLACC and dancing for them for the last three years, I know firsthand the experience of walking onto the dance floor after hours of practicing.Everyone leaves it all on the dance floor. PRLACC had the honor of winning first place last year.With that being the case they are working hard to bring the trophy back. There’s not much I can say about the routines and the show for PRLACC because of the intensity of the competition. Yet what I can say is that it will most definitely be a good show, and recommend that all you readers head over to Gample Pavilion if you can on October 15h.

This week also happened to be suicide prevention week at UCONN. There were many events offered throughout the week such as keynote speaker, suicide prevention training, and movies. I was able to attend the showing of Prayers for Bobby. A very sad movie focusing on the effects that homophobia can hold on a young adult. Bobby was born into a very Christian family. When he confided in his brother that he was homosexual his family found out. His mother refused to accept that it could be true. She told Bobby to submerge himself into religion even more to convince himself that it is not true; he couldn’t possibly be gay. The disapproval and self hating emotions his mother made him feel about himself for being gay got the best of Bobby. He grew so depressed that he could not hold it anymore and he took his life. It was a hard recovery for his mother, but ignorance no longer led to bliss.She began to preach and tell her story. She wanted to prevent other mothers from following in her steps. It was a beautiful movie about acceptance that could be applied to many aspects such as ethnicity, sex, and of course gender preference. It is available to view if you search for it and again a highly recommended movie for all readers. It shows how ignorance still exists and how dangerous it can be