Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. On Oct. 8, during the annual Fall Volunteer Fair, a section of the cafeteria that is normally used for conferences was used to host the “Hispanic Heritage Celebration,” where people were able to come in, ask questions about the stands placed in the room, and experience a little bit of Hispanic culture. This quarter, a third of the student body here at Bellevue College is of Hispanic ethnicity.
“We hope that people will see past the modern day stereotype of being considered an ‘immigrant,’” said volunteer Julio, who is a student at Bellevue College. We want them to see that we are different, that there is more to us than people think, and that we have an identity. This is a chance to know more about a different culture. You don’t have to like Hispanics, but to know more about who we are is never a bad thing.”
The volunteers at the Hispanic Heritage event are seeking to dispel ignorance about Latino culture. Their goal for putting this event together is to get other people to know more about their heritage so that they might see the beauty of their culture. Students were able to attend the Heritage Event knowing little to nothing about Latin America or its culture but ended up leaving with more knowledge about the culture and history of Latin American countries, and some learned some Spanish words as well.
“We are just like you, we have a different ethnicity but that’s not keeping us from being human just like you,” said another one of the volunteers attending on of the informational booths.