Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. To celebrate, The Shield asked Hispanic students what it means to be a part of their culture and how they honor it during the months of September and October.
Leilyn Rovira, sophomore biochemistry major, Spanish Club president
“Hispanic means coming from or having parents from a Hispanic country,” she said. “Even if we’re born in the United States, we can still have Hispanic roots. We like to have blood sometimes, and it doesn’t matter if we have little or aren’t connected to our Hispanic country. We can always start being connected to our heritage.”
Rovia said so many countries are celebrating their independence days during Hispanic Heritage Month and thinks it’s good to have an event where they share, celebrate and play some games from different Hispanic countries.
“We try to educate our officers about Hispanic heritage and create events where people can be comfortable learning about our roots because I know how hard it can be for Hispanic students to be in another country and not speak the language well.”
Rovia said when she first came here, it was hard for her to learn the language.
“That’s why I think Spanish Club is a good way for other students to know that it’s okay if they don’t feel comfortable. I would like them to know that there are always places here on campus that you can attend events where you can talk to other people and make friends in Spanish or in English. That’s the image I’m trying to show them. Students are welcome to talk to me if they’re not good at English, and they’re welcome to talk to me in Spanish.”
Jorge Gonzalez, sophomore biochemistry major
“Being Hispanic is about hard work and traditional values,” he said. “That’s what I learned from my grandparents and parents. We value responsibility, respect for your grandparents and older people and love, for your family mostly. Most families in Latin and Spanish countries tend to be big and live close together, so our values are about keeping family close.”
Natalia Duron, freshman undecided
“Being Hispanic means being part of a community full of culture,” she said. “You can definitely learn about Hispanic culture through clubs and the events they hold. People are also really understanding about language barriers. I’m in Spanish 306, and not everyone in the class speaks fluent Spanish, and everyone is really accepting and welcoming about somebody else starting a language that they don’t know. I’m hoping that more things come out about Hispanic Heritage Month and that it excites people.”
Evelyn Solano Sanchez, junior nursing major, Hispanic Student Union social media coordinator
“I absolutely love my culture,” she said. “I travel to Mexico a couple of times every year, and I love it. I spent this past Christmas over there, and it was absolutely amazing. I learned so many new cultural things about that experience. I hope people will learn about my culture through the Hispanic Student Union because I’m on the executive board and help plan events. I hope to expand HSU because it’s not exclusive to Hispanics, anyone can join. I want to teach other people about what it means to be in my culture and learn what they want to learn about.”
Edna Lara Barco, sophomore business administration major, Hispanic Student Union vice president
“My family and I come from a rich culture, and every day, I try my hardest to embrace it,” she said. “It also goes along with my religion, so it supports the way I live my daily life. I’m the vice president of HSU, and we do a lot of monthly events like the Latino Fest celebrating Latino and Hispanic culture. We also do the Pinata Hitting at the end of the semester, and we use pinatas for birthday celebrations and Christmas. I want to see more faces at HSU this semester. A lot of people signed up at the involvement fair, so I hope they’ll join us this semester.”
Elizabeth Tapia, sophomore pre-respiratory major
“Being Hispanic is not about only speaking Spanish, it is more than that,” she said. “Growing up and being a Latina in a predominantly white town did not come easy expressing myself over my culture. As I have grown, I have learned so much as being Hispanic in this generation. I grew up in a typical Hispanic household, having my traditions different than others and being family oriented. Going to parties, being home, and little get-togethers and food is completely different. Going to Mexico is always an experience, and seeing my roots of how different it is being in Mexico versus being in America. Things are done differently such as mini stores and restaurants being at people’s homes. But seeing the difference between my peers and I highlights the importance of my heritage and how important it is to maintain my culture. As well as teaching others about history, the importance of things within the Hispanic culture and being Hispanic.”
Tapia said she hopes to celebrate Hispanic heritage on campus by helping come up with events surrounding Hispanic heritage for my Latina sorority and Hispanic student union club.
“The way I hope to help people learn about Hispanic culture and history is by making posts on our sorority page of little facts of each different Hispanic heritage and reposting it on different platforms. During events, we explain how these fit into Hispanic culture and why these traditions are important to some of us.”
She said it is important to me being a woman who is a minority going into the medical field.
“Wanting to be that representation of the 9% of Hispanics that go into the medical field, I am excited to finish pursuing my degree, and I hope to make a difference going into the medical field. I hope to see the population of Hispanics in the medical field grow.”
