On Wednesday, May 2, 2018 I went to Bayside Community Center at Linda Vista with the rest of my classmates. We danced along to Zumba and ate some delicious food and treats afterwards. Although I could not keep up with the pace of the Zumba instructor, I tried to appear as though I knew what I was doing, and I think it actually worked. At the very least, I can say that by moving around to some dance moves, I got the chance to warm up from the cold, rainy weather. Haha! :)
However, the highlighting experience from this week’s outing is that I got the chance to see new faces and speak to different elders. Mama Glo was one of the elders I did not meet last time and she was in my Learning Exchange Group (LEG) this week. I learned so much from Mama Glo’s past experiences just by listening to her speak. I found it very inspiring how she chose to return back to school and get her undergraduate degree at UC Riverside (UCR) after discovering she could not get a promotion at her job for not having a college education, despite being an excellent employee. She emphasized how her college years were one of the best times of her life because she got the chance to study abroad and learn about her Hispanic roots, while taking classes at Mexico. While at Mexico, she learned the importance of having a community where everyone feels welcomed and acknowledged. Although she recognizes Mexico is not the same anymore, as a result of all of the drug cartels, the idea of ‘community building’ still remains with her till this day.
For this reason, Mama Glo’s current mission is to support the homeless at Linda Vista and make their voices be heard by the people in power. So far, she has spoken with the main stakeholders in her community, and is hoping to reach the day in which the homeless at Linda Vista will be treated with dignity and respect, and be provided with the necessary resources to excel in their future endeavors. I really do hope this becomes a reality.
However, the highlighting experience from this week’s outing is that I got the chance to see new faces and speak to different elders. Mama Glo was one of the elders I did not meet last time and she was in my Learning Exchange Group (LEG) this week. I learned so much from Mama Glo’s past experiences just by listening to her speak. I found it very inspiring how she chose to return back to school and get her undergraduate degree at UC Riverside (UCR) after discovering she could not get a promotion at her job for not having a college education, despite being an excellent employee. She emphasized how her college years were one of the best times of her life because she got the chance to study abroad and learn about her Hispanic roots, while taking classes at Mexico. While at Mexico, she learned the importance of having a community where everyone feels welcomed and acknowledged. Although she recognizes Mexico is not the same anymore, as a result of all of the drug cartels, the idea of ‘community building’ still remains with her till this day.
For this reason, Mama Glo’s current mission is to support the homeless at Linda Vista and make their voices be heard by the people in power. So far, she has spoken with the main stakeholders in her community, and is hoping to reach the day in which the homeless at Linda Vista will be treated with dignity and respect, and be provided with the necessary resources to excel in their future endeavors. I really do hope this becomes a reality.