Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month is a 31-day celebration, recognizing the contributions of Hispanic Americans and Latinos’ achievements, history, and cultures. Lasell was able to host an event with food, music, and conversations celebrating Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month at the IC3 (intercultural center & commuter cottage), with many Lasell clubs joining like MSU (Multicultural student union), Lasell Unidos, and BSA (Black Student Association), who were talking to students who were interested in joining them and creating more events and community.
The event started with an amazing playlist with some classics like Monchy and Alexandra to Prince Royce and Romeo Santos, then moving to newer sounds like Bad Bunny and Peso Pluma. Some students began dancing a bit and started conversing with each other about their favorite artists or songs. Personally, I loved the classic salsa songs that reminded me of my grandma as it was her favorite.
The food was the highlight of the event as it brought me and the other students “home”. No matter how many times I have moved back from home to campus I have always missed my family cooking as others and I have used our culture’s food as our main source of community. The food that was offered was white rice, yellow rice and pigeon peas, black beans, fried plantains, empanada of chicken, pork, or veggie, and tacos of chicken, and pork.
After everyone got their plates of food, some students went around to talk about where they were from. I had conversations with many new students about our ethnicities and what traditions we do for the upcoming holidays. Also, other students and I talked about what our first year moving into college was like and how it was very different from our home life, and we caught ourselves talking in Spanglish when talking to our non-Spanish speaking friends.