Hispanic heritage month started on Sept. 15 to commemorate the independence of countries like Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras and ended Oct. 15, but just because the month is over doesn’t mean the celebration of culture stops.  

As a Boricua, a kid from Puerto Rico, Hispanic Heritage month means a lot to me; it is an opportunity for me to represent my people and my culture. For students and faculty, the month is an opportunity to tell their stories. Stories about what it means to be Hispanic, stories about the beauty of Hispanic culture and why it should be shared and stories about what some people have gotten wrong about us.  

Mario Alexander Perlera Jr, a freshman biology major, expressed that to be Hispanic is to have a good time. 

To many people being Hispanic is more than just your blood line, although that is where it starts. Being Hispanic is about being enveloped in the loving culture and beautiful language like no other. 

“Hispanic heritages just have so many different little things.” said Meghan Moncrief, a freshman biology and spanish major. “But you don’t have to meet all those things to be considered Hispanic,”   

A part of every Spanish speaking country’s culture is the beautiful arts. Whether it be music, dance, paintings or food; expression has touched every part of Hispanic peoples’ culture and way of life. 

 “We are so much more than just Mexico,” said Renata Maldonado-Tovar, a freshman english major. “We have an entire continent,” 

Many students and professors expressed their favorite part of Hispanic culture was the delicious food and the community that forms around the dinner table. Food has stood as a bridge between cultures for generations, not only do certain cultures share foods but it serves as a gateway for Americans and other outside cultures to experience our world. 

The MAX, GSCU’s dining hall understood the importance of representation and how easily accepted changing the food would be, if it was even noticed at all. At the start of Hispanic Heritage Month the max had a wide variety of Hispanic food and throughout the month they served different foods from different cultures. 

The MAX almost secretly celebrating Hispanic culture makes you question: why was that the only form of celebration from the school? There were multiple celebrations from the student run clubs on campus, but notably the only representation from the school was quietly having more Hispanic food in the dining hall. 

“I hope we can go back in the future to more visible celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month.” said Diana Díaz Gómez, a lecturer of spanish at GCSU. “We definitely have a lot of art, a lot of contributions to know about from Hispanic people,” 

Maldonado-Tovar feels as though culture should be shared between people, and that is why it is so important to have a month of celebration.  

People in the United States commonly view Hispanic and Mexican as synonymous, but there is such diverse culture that comes from every country, or even more so for Hispanic culture in general. By reducing us to nothing more than one country we lose connections and opportunities to share traditions.  

“Each person has a different background and a different culture,” said Aurora Castillo-Scott, an associate professor of spanish at GCSU. “So to me, it’s important to show them the diversity” 

Being loud and proud, that is how many people see Hispanic or Latino people and they are completely right. We have no reason to be ashamed of who we are, so we refuse to be anything less than present in spaces our ancestors didn’t have a chance to be. 

“We can be loud sometimes, but it’s because we’re so happy,” Maldonado-Tovar said.  “I am who I am because I’m Hispanic. And it’s something I never want to forget,”