Students gathered around the quad for games, food and music to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month at the “Feria Latina” event.

Sabrina Haggman, SJCC METAS counselor, a support system on campus, stated that ”…students wanted to do this event to take part in Latinx Heritage Month.”

Student workers planned the entirety of the festivities for the Oct. 11 event. One of these workers, 23-year-old Valeria Herrera Vasquez, an international student from Peru, explained that, “The most interesting part is engaging with students and planning the events.”

Vasquez emphasized that together as a team they worked hard to organize the event.

“Meta has some new interns but we still need a lot of help,” Vasquez said. “I am tired but I love it and it really means a lot to me as a Peruvian.”

This passion was also shared by some of the students in attendance.

“This event means something very special to me. I am able to meet different people with diverse cultural backgrounds,” and the event, “…creates a sense of community for us,” Evelyn Soto, 19, said.

The National Center for Education Statistics records that 48% of SJCC’s student population is Hispanic/Latinx, the largest group on campus by far. Acknowledging, and even celebrating that reality, is something that was paramount for those present.

“What is amazing about Latinx Heritage Month is that it shows how much more our culture is then just our food and so much more to us than what the eye meets,” Associated Student Government Student Trustee Javi Vallejo said.

“I think that’s the beautiful thing, to show people that we are just like you. We bleed, we cry, we die.”, Vallejo expressed.

To learn more information: The Puente Project, METAS, SJCC Events Calendar.