Lucy Revina<\/strong>, the MC, said, \u201cTurn and introduce yourself to the person next to you,\u201d and she wasn\u2019t kidding. Surprise, disbelief, and anxiety all drew breath at once. Then she made them chuckle and brought them together to listen.<\/p>\n Mark Gervolino <\/strong>caused a cumulative gasp by startling the room with the sound of a wooden board that he broke into two. It was the physical counterpart to his metaphor of growing stronger with support. His message had a punch, literally, which was felt by the audience through their stationary seats.<\/p>\n David Rhodes<\/strong> sucked a sigh of grief and of sympathy onto the stage when he remembered losing loved ones. Death is a universal pain, and empathy let loose in waves with him. When he plucked himself up, the audience felt uplifted, too.<\/p>\n Unathi Zibi<\/strong> took the updraft and made the audience laugh. Her message addressed American stereotypes of South Africa. Laughter over the word \u201corganic\u201d and how it was mishandled in her life was an amusing anecdote that made several people chuckle.<\/p>\n Vaneysha \u201cViva\u201d Hicks<\/strong> used the words \u201ca song your eyes can see and your heart can dance to\u201d about her daughter, Holiday. Those words were precious to behold, and they were felt in the audience, in throats that didn\u2019t say them. Hearts were still.<\/p>\n It never matters the context in which the word \u201csuicide\u201d is used: people stop breathing.<\/p>\n Trinh Tong<\/strong> used it. This particular night\u2019s context ended up breathing, and the audience\u2019s sighs were relieved and grateful.<\/p>\n When Gina Castillo<\/strong> said that she was once given five years to live, the audience\u2019s air went somehow sterile. A chill fell into the silence that followed, where tension built and was released as she got better unexpectedly. She\u2019s still breathing, and her medical journey brought hope to a climax.<\/p>\n Ryan Balli <\/strong>displayed vulnerability and wore it proudly. He intends to serve the public as a police officer. The genuine moment, the one that caught the onlookers in their throats, was when he recounted asking his \u201cstep-dad\u201d to pin on his police badge. \u2026 Honor\u2019s breath is deep and wide.<\/p>\n Kiana Richardson<\/strong> inspired awe, which opens one\u2019s mouth and lets breath back in after it has left. Her \u201cmalevolently beautiful world\u201d summed up the evening\u2019s emotions. Her spoken-word poem encompassed a range of emotions, including uncomfortable ones like being targeted for hate. It described the fragility and the power that human beings possess, and it ended on a positive note.<\/p>\n Nine voices were heard, nine journeys were shared, and a whole room drew a single breath several times.<\/p>\n \u201cAstonishing,\u201d said Mina Alsadoon, a psychology major and SJCC alumni. \u201cI feel inspired, and I should be ashamed of the worries in my life. I have to look up to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Among those looking up to this year\u2019s speakers were Breyana Parker, an SJCC nursing major. \u201cI want to do it next year and tell my story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Patricia Richardson, Kiana\u2019s mother, said of her child, \u201cI am in awe.\u201d In her case, the parent was not the teacher that night. Several parents were present.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaker\u201d and \u201caudience\u201d swapped labels and mingled once the program ended.<\/p>\n Lives spoke to each other, as advertised.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TRIBUTE TO LIFESPEAK 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n What lets hope arise?<\/p>\n Un-becoming one\u2019s labels<\/p>\n and breaking through walls.<\/p>\n Magnetize moments<\/p>\n when humans come to a call,<\/p>\n but God has the plan.<\/p>\n Every rose has thorn<\/p>\n Every breath marks a journey.<\/p>\n Every life can teach.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Lucy Revina<\/strong>: 19, computer science and electrical engineering major. <\/strong>She engaged light-heartedly with the audience between speakers. Before introducing any else, she asked the audience to say \u201cHello\u201d in any language. Her brief intermissions gave people a little breathing room and a chance to reset before the next revelation.<\/p>\n Mark Gervolino: <\/strong>21, communications major. <\/strong>Gervolino broke ground the Adobe stage by first breaking a wooden board, which is a rite of passage in martial arts training. His message, \u201cBreaking Through,\u201d encouraged the audience to think about the people who holds the barriers which foster growth in their own lives, and to appreciate the people who support them from the sidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cWho are your board holders?\u201d he prompted, and left the audience to ponder.<\/p>\n David Rhodes: <\/strong>55, psychology, drug addiction counseling major. <\/strong>Rhodes let the audience ponder failure. His speech, \u201cLabels,\u201d spoke about aspects of failure and how he overcame the labels that bound him.<\/p>\n Rhodes stopped the hearts of all his spectators when he said that he lost his brother and son to drugs and alcohol. The room felt his loss. His strength returned when he grew through labels like disabled, divorced, and bankrupt.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat label are you?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n In answer, he said, \u201cLearn from it, don\u2019t dwell on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Unathi Zibi: <\/strong>30, communications major. Zibi\u2019s story, \u201cGod has our Itinerary,\u201d was positively delightful – a love story which began with rough times and ended up bringing the audience together with laughter.<\/p>\n \u201cOrganic food is better? I didn\u2019t understand,\u201d she said when describing her mistreatment as an au pair. \u201cEverything is organic at home.\u201d<\/p>\n Zibi\u2019s message was that despite hardships, \u201cGod\u2019s plan for our lives is still unfolding every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Vaneysha \u201cViva\u201d Hicks: <\/strong>29, studio arts major. Hicks let her story unfold on an easel and didn\u2019t allow the audience to breathe for her entire performance. Clad in a neat, black-and-white striped outfit reminiscent of jail bars and armed with an articulate, fluid, emotional narrative, Hicks kept her back to the audience and literally painted as she told her story, \u201cEvery rose has its thorn.\u201d<\/p>\n Recounting when she learned that she was pregnant and alone, \u201cI did the first smart thing I ever did,\u201d said Hicks, \u201cand I asked for help.\u201d<\/p>\n When her voice broke, her art spoke for her, and tears were shed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no shortcuts in life,\u201d she concluded, to generous applause.<\/p>\n Trinh Tong: <\/strong>21, communications major. Tong caught the audience off guard with powerful feelings when she described a shortcut with the words \u201cattempted suicide.\u201d Then she countered the painful brush with reality, describing gratitude for surviving a car accident which happened a few months afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad that he hit me,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause now I can appreciate everything.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a collective sigh of relief.<\/p>\n Her story, \u201cMagnet(fying) [sic] Your Moments,\u201d ended with a question. \u201cIf I were to tell you tomorrow is your last day,\u201d she said and paused for reflection, \u201cwhich \u2026 items would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n Gina Castillo: <\/strong>30, communications major. Castillo\u2019s piece, \u201cLet Hope Arise,\u201d recounted how little she could do when given a diagnosis of End Stage Renal Disease. Sadness and suspense, horror and hope, all arose simultaneously.<\/p>\n Castillo is now nine years grown into a kidney transplant and inexplicably rid of two incurable diseases. She was the catalyst for hope that arose in those who heard her story.<\/p>\n \u201cI choose not to dwell on why I\u2019ve been given a second chance at hope and life,\u201d she said. Her message and her voice had a healthy ring to it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sjcctimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RevinapicKrissy_final-300x225.jpg\")
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