Event 1: Fiesta Parade
September 16, 2017
The first event I attended was a parade celebrating the Hispanic community of Lubbock. The parade took place on Broadway Avenue and we watched from the curb in front of Broadway Church of Christ.
We saw several different groups in the parade, including churches, dance teams, girl and boy scouts, musicians, and military. Representatives for the local Latino newspaper handed out copies of their paper to us. People running for various local political positions came by and shook hands with us. I was impressed with the closeness of the Latino community here in Lubbock. Everyone out at the parade seemed to know each other.
Event 2: Spanish Class at Texas A&M
September 22, 2017
For this event, I joined my sister for her Spanish class at Texas A&M. I did not take any photos, as phones were not allowed in class, but can vouch for my attendance in other ways if needed.
My sister, Molly, is a sophomore at Texas A&M. She is a business management major with a minor in Spanish. She has been taking Spanish classes since middle school and is nearly fluent. The class was SPAN 303, Composition and Conversation, taught by Eduardo Espina, a famous Spanish journalist.
That day in class, they received back a paper they had recently written and discussed them. The entire class was given in Spanish, so I didn't understand all of it, but was still able to pick up on a few things here and there. After the class was over, I had the opportunity to speak with her professor about going into media after graduation and he gave me helpful advice.
Meeting someone who had been involved in global media and hearing about their experiences was really interesting and much of what he had to say was relevant to what I had been learning in class. I did more research on Espina after attending his class: https://hisp.tamu.edu/people/faculty/eduardo-espina/
Event 3: "Not Just Black"
November 30, 2017
For this event, I attended a presentation put on by the Black Student Association called "Not Just Black". The purpose of this event was
I did not take any photos at this event, but I did take notes. The event was a presentation put on by several members of the group highlighting the achievements of Black and African/American people throughout history. There were many that I did not previously know about. Many members expressed their feelings on the current political climate and provided encouragement to one another.
Attending this event was a much needed reminder that I still have a lot of learning to do about other people's cultures. I feel that I left with a more open mind than I came in with.
