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LBCC Zoom event discusses using traditional Chinese medicine to relieve stress

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LBCC Zoom event discusses using traditional Chinese medicine to relieve stress

The “Measured Pain > Immeasurable Pain” Zoom event at LBCC discussed Traditional Chinese medication as a way to relieve neck and shoulder stress with acupuncture among other methods. 

J-Son Ong, LBCC professor in the English Department was the event host. Dr. Liu Shiwen was the guest and he has been practicing Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for 21 years. 

Shiwen learned TCM in China and the U.S. 

To be a qualifying doctor in TCM, a person needs three to four years of training if they have a  medical school background. Without a medical school background it takes an extra two years to be a qualifying doctor in TCM. 

Shiwen went over the various forms of TCM which were herbal, massage, qigong, moxibustion and acupuncture. 

Chinese herbal medicine has been around for thousands of years, with the earliest type in China dating back to the Han Dynasty and it was called Shen-nong-bi-cao-jing. 

“In modern times there are more than 500 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines,” said Shiwen.

Shiwen spoke on how herbal medicine can be categorized into 400 types such as antidotes, heat cleaning medicine and so on. 

“As for massage, it is a physical contact kind of therapy that applies force and exerting force under the skin to stretch out the muscle and create more flow in the meridians of the body,” said Ong.

Shiwen also talked about massages, and how they have the effect of unblocking the meridians, promoting blood circulation, adjusting function of the internal organs and strengthening immunity.

Qigong is another form of TCM that was presented which is a physical exercise through breathing, physical activity and consciousness that enhances physical and mental strength. 

“Qigong is a more proactive exercise compared to massage,” said Ong. There are different forms of Qigong mainly categorized into dynamic and static. 

Moxibustion was the third form of TCM that was discussed which is one of the oldest therapies in TCM. 

Technicians ignite moxa grass and use the heat to stimulate the meridians and acupoints of the skin epidermis. 

Shiwen explained that the firepower warms up and unblocks the patient’s meridians and adjusts their internal chi. This method helps to both treat and prevent diseases as well. 

Moxibustion treats pain and various joints such as pain that can be caused by arthritis. 

This treatment while being used lasts for around 10 minutes and both Ong and Shiwen claimed it to be very effective.

Acupuncture was the last form of TCM presented during the event, and it is the type of TCM that Shiwen is mostly familiar with. 

“It is a combination of acupuncture and moxibustion which uses needles or fire moxibustion to treat diseases,” said Shiwen. 

Shiwen also explained how both acupuncture and moxibustion have been proven to treat around 307 diseases. With 100 of those being extremely effective with relieving different types of pains. 

Overall, this Zoom event was intended to help Long Beach City College students and staff understand the background and importance of TCM and how they help relieve pain and prevent diseases. 

Gilmore Music now closed in Long Beach

David Gonzales
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Gilmore Music now closed in Long Beach

Today, Long Beach lost its last music store, with no replacement in sight. The closure marks a turning point for musicians in Long Beach, who aren’t losing just another place to buy strings, plane a fingerboard or record a session; they’re losing a landmark of musical history.

Gilmore Music on Seventh St. was Long Beach’s premier music store for decades and remained one of the only places with affordable practice rooms in the community. That was, until owner Clint Gilmore passed away in the first week of November 2020. 

Since Gilmore’s death, his wife of 37 years, Linda Gilmore, who works as a schoolteacher, had been running the store. But after a few months she quickly realized that the burden was too much to bear. She made the decision to sell the store, according to music liquidator and businessman Eddie Montana. 

Montana was brought in by Mrs. Gilmore to help clear out the store’s remaining inventory. A lifelong Long Beach resident and multi-instrumentalist, he had known Gilmore since they both attended Wilson High School together in the 1960’s.

Montana recalls that his first serious job in the music repair business was at Gilmore’s in the 70’s and 80’s, where he worked as a luthier for nearly 20 years. He remembers that for a period of 6 months in the store’s early history, the famed guitar maker Leo Fender had a workspace in the shop.

Beyond being a store and repair shop, Gilmore was the site of the oldest recording studio in Long Beach and during those 80 years it hosted some of the biggest acts of the 20th century. 

Besides Long Beach locals Sublime, Gilmore played host to John Coltrane, the Rat Pack and Oingo Boingo, among many others.

For instrument repairman Ryan Wagner, who did specialty work for Mr. Gilmore for more than a decade and was trained by Montana in instrument repair, the news of Clint’s death came suddenly. “Clint had invited me to come and meet his wife just a week before he passed, and the next time I was in the shop I found out. It was a huge shock,” said Wagner.

It wasn’t until a few months later that Montana called Wagner and asked him if he could come help with the liquidation. Montana says that the pace of the selloff picked up significantly in the last two weeks before they closed. 

“I tried to market it as best I could, but many people only found out in the last two weeks,” said Montana. He’s had many people come in who feel that the closure is a huge loss to the community, and have asked about what will become of the store after they close.

According to Montana, when their lease ends on the 1st, the store will most likely be marketed to other people who want to open up a music shop. Montana went on to say that it was about time for things to be “refreshed,” and that the shop had suffered at the hands of online retail for some time before Clint’s passing.

When asked if there will still be interest in having a music shop in the space again, Montana remained optimistic. 

Montana said, “Whatever happens, I believe that one day there will be another music store here, and we hope it’s going to be a rebirth of Gilmore’s.”

While he remained pragmatic about the liquidation and closure, there was a definite feeling of loss in the way he spoke about the store and its impact on the community. “I’ve had so many people come in over the last few weeks, all torn up over the situation. I try my best to give them something positive to take home,” said Montana, adding, “For every 4 people I talk to, 3 have been able to see the good in all of it.”

Beginning June 1, the storefront on 1935 E. Seventh St. will be available for rent, and the remaining inventory and contents of the shop will be emptied. 

LBCC professors share knowledge of science during science night

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LBCC professors share knowledge of science during science night

On May 14, LBCC hosted a science night event hosted by LBCC’s physical and life science departments. The purpose was to bring interactive and informative presentations on science. 

The presentation was a four part event held over multiple hours, and included presentations about volcanoes, mutants, blood types, and dissection. 

Professor Doug Britton of the physical science department broadcasted from the Mojave Desert at the SIMA Volcanic fields. 

During the presentation, Britton explained the type of volcanoes present at the CIMA Fields. He said, “The CIMA fields volcanoes are a group of 40 cinder cone volcanoes that are geologically young.”

Britton also showed off Hawaiitte, which is a type of rock that forms from magma with a similar composition to that found in Hawaii. 

Britton said, “As we look at the overall composition of the magma it allows us to classify it based on what elements are in there.” 

The next presentation was about anatomy, hosted by Professor Morgan Roth of the life science department. 

Roth began by stating why she likes anatomy and said, “One of my favorite things about anatomy is that we get to do a lot of dissections … you take things that are kind of theoretical like pictures … we get to look at something real.”

During the presentation, Roth played a video of a mink being dissected, she explains that the anatomy of the minx is similar to humans. “There’s actually not many significant changes like there are some small changes… for the most part it’s pretty much the same,” said Roth.

Next, was a presentation on genetics by professor Christopher Davinson from the life sciences department, who likened certain mutations to those seen on the X-men. 

One that affects your muscle growth, giving a sort-of super strength is called the hercules gene. Davinson said, “If the gene (MSTN) mutates the Myostatin levels, the protein levels become lower … Which is what leads to the extra muscle growth.”

Lastly, there is Aliana Turkel from Farms Sanctuary whose presentation was about the organization, COVID-19 and the food supply. 

Turkel said, “As the nation’s first farm animal and protection organization, Farm Sanctuary… has educated millions of people about the plight of farm animals.”

She also explained how her organization helps animals. Turkel said, “Farms Sanctuary has cared for thousands of animals at its sanctuaries in New York and California.”

Later on, she touched on zoonoses diseases which are diseases transferred between farm animals and humans. She used the example of chicken and turkeys.

“Close contact with domesticated chickens and turkeys remains the most likely source of human infections of influenza,” said Turkel. 

This demonstration was a brief dive into the topics that LBCC  teaches and how it’s applied in some real world settings. The aim is to make science accessible for people in the community and give attention to the science departments and their respective majors. 

Podcast production workshop teaches participants how to use audio for storytelling

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Podcast production workshop teaches participants how to use audio for storytelling

On Friday, May 28 Compound LB collaborated with VoiceWaves Long Beach on a workshop about podcast production and explained the stages of podcasting production.   

“The goal of this workshop is to help prepare participants to run a podcast and tell thoughtful stories about locals and the issues that are impacting them,” said Compound Lb organizer Serena Au.

The workshop was hosted by M. Smith who is a freelance multimedia journalist and one-person production team. Smith’s skill set includes podcasting, cinematography, photography, and music production. 

VoiceWaves is a Long Beach youth-led journalism and media-training project. Students that are joining the organization learn to report, write and create digital journalism content. 

Compound LB is an art and community space focusing on the intersection of art, wellness and community impact. 

Smith went into detail on talking about podcast production and all the ways one who is interested in podcast production can create their own podcast. 

“Anyone can become a podcaster and have their own journey in podcast production, you just need to make sure you have the following done and ready; Having a topic that you will be talking about, an opinion on the argument or topic you are speaking on, stating and having evidence to back up your statements, and making sure you have an editing program where you can create and edit your videos,” said Smith

In addition Smith said, “Most importantly have a voice. Make sure you want to use your voice to speak about something that is important to you.”

It was mentioned in the workshop to make sure you know what your podcast is for and the audience you are trying to target. This is important for you and your listeners so that you have a more comfortable environment when filming/posting your podcasts.  

The most popular platforms to use for podcasting are Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Roku. 

Voicewaves workshop and Compound LB organizes many virtual zoom events to help journalists in any field by providing many tips for all fields.

If you are interested in joining any future events or workshops hosted by VoiceWaves or Compound LB you can find them on Instagram @compoundlb and @voicewaveslb for more information. 

18,000 excused withdrawals given at LBCC last spring 2020, compared to 9,062 this spring

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18,000 excused withdrawals given at LBCC last spring 2020, compared to 9,062 this spring

Correction: The link provided was previously incorrect and changed to the correct form.

There were approximately a little over 18,000 EW’s that were requested last spring semester. This spring semester there is a total of 9,062 W’s, according to the vice president of student services at LBCC. 

Kelly Truong, a LBCC student said, “During the winter intersession, I was taking two classes: Abnormal Psychology and Counseling 49. In the middle of break, the misfortunes of COVID-19 and caused me to constantly move around California.”

The pandemic has been a challenging time for many people. Some students decided to request W’s for their course(s) because of a variety of reasons. Such as Truong who didn’t want her GPA to drop.

“Specifically the misfortunes (I faced) were food insecurity, home insecurity and the instability made it hard and impossible for me to get an A in both classes and I was holding a good GPA so I didn’t want any of my classes to drop my GPA total. Therefore I dropped my Counseling 49 class which was the best decision ever,” said Truong. 

According to Corral vice president of student services at LBCC, some other reasons students would want to receive a W would be; the class isn’t what it seems to be, the course was harder than students expected, an emergency reason, or the course isn’t required for a student’s declared major to name a few.

During the spring semester of 2020, a new system of withdrawing from a course was introduced, said Corral.

The Long Beach City College ‘A building’ of the Liberal Arts Campus is where the Admissions and Records office is located. Admissions and Records can help students with a variety of clerical tasks in relations to enrolling students, maintaining and keeping track of current students academic progress. Photo by Amira Haynes.

One of the changes was, a student can receive an EW past the normal deadline, if a student experienced an emergency, hardship, or something outside of students control due to COVID-19 without being penalized for it.

To get an EW on transcripts, students can use doctor’s or hospitalization notes as documentation. Hardships from COVID-19 can also be used to request an EW. 

Students can fill out a form in order to get an EW on their transcript, the form is called, Appeal for Excused Withdrawal, and can be found online through the Admissions and Records office website.

Students can drop a class before the withdrawal date depending on the semester and the course. For example, if a student was enrolled in an Anatomy Lab class for the spring semester, and the student drops the class after the deadline, the W will show on the transcript but if students drop before the deadline it will not be visible on the transcript

It is the students job to drop a course by the deadline to avoid any financial obligations or to avoid W, NP, F grades.

Despite that, recieving an EW does not count towards a students GPA and it doesn’t count as a repeated course either. 

According to LBCC Vice President of Student Services, Nohel Corral, “The biggest impact of W’s happened during the 2020 spring semester when the pandemic and COVID hit.” 

“I encourage students to meet with a counselor at LBCC, so that one we can look at the patterns of W’s that may or may not exist and a counselor will be able to tell you based off a college that your wanting to attend, basically what number of W’s is acceptable to stay around,” said Corral.  

Students at LBCC only get three chances to get a passing grade in a repeated class before having to take it at another local city college or university.

However, students are generally encouraged to stay away from receiving too many withdrawals during their academic career because some colleges only accept a certain amount of W’s on students’ transcript but students should steer away from too many withdrawals

Withdrawal dates are different this spring semester. For students who took 16 week classes, May 2 was the last date to receive a W.

Then, there’s also late start classes which students had until May 20 to receive a W. 

As we can see the number of excused withdrawals improved this spring semester compared to last spring. COVID-19 has affected students and the numbers can attest to that. 

The transfer center, admissions and records office, and counselors are available to assist students with any questions and concerns they have in regards to receiving an EW or W in any classes.

LBCC’s Queer Space club discusses being a transgender athlete with guest Jenna Weiner

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LBCC’s Queer Space club discusses being a transgender athlete with guest Jenna Weiner

The LBCC Queer Space club hosted Jenna Weiner, a transgender athlete in a virtual educational discussion about the obstacles transgender athletes face today along with her personal experience and anti-transgender legislation. 

“I guess I just went through puberty once and decided I wanted to do it all over again,” Weiner said with a smile.

Weiner had no idea she was transgender until she was 22 years old and stumbled upon an online post from someone who detailed they sometimes felt like they were assigned the wrong gender at birth.

She realized she had felt that way most of her life but never spoke up about it.

Now, five years after coming out, Weiner has enjoyed her life as a woman and a female athlete. 

Weiner is an ultimate frisbee and disc golf player. Her transition opened her eyes to the harsh realities that many transgender athletes struggle with. 

Throught her transition, she was accepted by her coaches and peers, but strict rules enforced by USA Ultimate regarding transgender individuals kept her from playing on the team for an entire year.

“I lost a year of eligibility because of a school policy,” Weiner said.

Ultimate’s policy at the time required transgender women to do twelve months of hormone replacement therapy in order to be eligible to play.

Such regulations are not foreign to transgender athletes. The NCAA has a similar requirement for its transgender athletes and the International Olympic Committee requires for the total level of testosterone to be below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least a year in order to compete.

The debate about whether testosterone levels in male to female transgender athletes gives them an unfair advantage over cisgender female athletes is widely controversial. In fact, there are currently over 35 bills nationwide introduced by state legislatures that hope to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports for this exact assumption.

“There’s this idea that testosterone is some kind of magic hormone that magically makes people really strong and really fast and really athletic … it’s just not true,” Weiner said.

Yet, just as recently as two months ago Mississippi passed the “Mississippi Fairness Act,” a bill that prohibits transgender athletes from participating in girls’ teams on school campuses and requires them to compete according to their sex assigned at birth. Arkansas and Tennessee passed similar legislation.  

16 states including California, Colorado, and Connecticut have all passed laws that prohibit transgender athletes from being excluded in any capacity regardless of personal or religious beliefs. 

In December 2020 the USAU implemented new inclusive policies that ensures transgender people do not need any medical interventions to play in the gender division they feel most comfortable in. 

Overall, Weiner has hopes that anti-transgender bills that have yet to pass will be labeled as unconstitutional so that transgender kids will have the same opportunity as their cisgender classmates to play sports at a competitive level. 

“We need to implement policies that make sense and don’t necessarily isolate transgender and non-binary people,” Weiner said.

She urged participants to demand policy makers to implement flexible and inclusive policies moving forward.

Towards the end, Queer Space member Linda Olmos spoke about the importance of LBCC students and staff making sure transgender students feel comfortable on campus. 

“We need more students and folks on campus so that we can create these [safe] spaces of inclusion …” Olmos said.

Long Beach City LGBTQ community has a say in replacement tower paint job

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Long Beach City LGBTQ community has a say in replacement tower paint job

The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach held a Zoom event on May 20th titled, “Pride Lifeguard Tower Input Session,” to discuss the construction of a new pride lifeguard tower to replace the one that burned in March.

In the Zoom event, all LGBTQ members had a say in which flag was going to be painted on the replacement pride tower, which is going to be rebuilt sometime this month of May 2021. 

The pride lifeguard tower represents the LGBTQ community and reminds the city of the solidarity it has with the community.

Jenn, an attendee of the meeting and a new resident in Long beach said, “Biking by that always makes you feel happy and supported, and full of pride, I want everyone in our community to feel that. I think that’s a great way to represent all of us.”

There were brief discussions on which flag should be painted, be it sexual orientation or gender.

Ish Salamanca, director of the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach Health Services said, “We’re getting feedback on Instagram. We’re having a lot of requests for the trans flag, and the non-binary colors to be added.” He later mentioned the A-sexual flag.

“I would like to see the newest design of the pride flag, the Philadelphia flag represented because it has both a traditional pride flag as well as in cooperating the black stripes, and brown stripes. As well as the trans pride flag,” Jen also mentioned. 

Salamanca added, “We also have people just looking for the traditional, bringing back what we had before. Keeping the six colors, in that order.”

When the answer is official on which flags will be painted, the center will send photos to the city staff, to let them know of which flag.

Later during the Zoom meeting, attendees contributed ideas of what the design of the lifeguard tower should be.

Cindy Allen, councilwoman of the second district of Long Beach said, “I think about not only the paint, you know we could possibly think about attaching things to the tower. Also a plaque or memorial on the side.”

In terms of adding an object like a flag, for example, the LGBTQ center will ask the city beforehand what’s possible and what’s not for safety precautions.

If the city says yes to hanging flags on the lifeguard tower, the LGBTQ center will be open to changing the flags monthly and for holidays.

While the decision is still being made, the center doesn’t want visitors to climb up the lifeguard tower for photos in case of injuries, and the possibility of damaging the tower.

The Zoom event was interrupted a couple of times by people who joined with bad ill intentions. 

The first incident occurred when an individual was shaking their butt in front of the camera while other participants were sharing their input on the replacement lifeguard tower. 

The second incident occurred when two attendees interrupted the Zoom meeting with an eight second audio that said explicit terms such as, “the N-word.” The host of the event then rushed to kick them out of the Zoom event. 

This unfortunately left the Zoom event to end early from an awkward and uncomfortable silence.

If any member of the LGBTQ community wants to voice their input on which flag to paint the replacement pride lifeguard tower, you’re welcome to comment on one of the Instagram posts made by the LGBTQ Center.


The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach can also be messaged through their email, infocenter@lb.org, where feedback will be acknowledged and considered.

Free school supplies distributed at MLK Park in Long Beach

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Free school supplies distributed at MLK Park in Long Beach

Pueblita Tortillas, Long Beach City Resources, and Urban Remedy came together to give the community free school supplies at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Long Beach on May 22.

“It was a good event but we didn’t make it in time because there were a lot of things that were gone. I will continue to follow their social media and go to another event,” said Elizabeth Atendido, a community participant. 

The backpacks and the calculators were the first supplies to run out. About 30 minutes into the event and they were both completely gone.

Other school supplies that were distributed included: books, notebooks, binders, USB drives, pencil pouches, agendas, erasers, folders, and snacks.

Atendido was one of a few people who missed out on the backpacks and the calculators when they arrived. There were many participants throughout the event as soon as the event started.

The snacks provided were from Urban Remedy, which is a plant based food and drink organization that is found at local retailers. Urban Remedy recently gave out tablets in South LA with a different organization.

“We are trying to make the company more sustainable to produce less waste,” said Alicia Echevarria, a first time volunteer for the company. The organization passed out bottled water and lots of snacks at the event.

Pueblita Tortillas is another organization that helped sponsor the giveaway. This is the first time they have teamed up with LB Resources and hosted an event like this.

“We want to keep hosting events like this and the community can help us out by following our Instagram, liking and sharing to help get the word out,” said Sandy Hall, a representative for Pueblita Tortillas.

“The main thing is that we are welcoming any students, no age limits, no matter what school you go to, and we want to give a hand to anyone who needs supplies or resources in the community,” said Hall. 

The event was located directly across from the parking lot off of Lemon Street in between two buildings.

For more information about upcoming giveaways you can check out LB Resources, Pueblita Tortillas, and Urban Remedy on their social media accounts in which they post about any upcoming giveaways. 

World’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi band performs at Restaurant Fuego in Long Beach

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World’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi band performs at Restaurant Fuego in Long Beach

Correction: Names of band members were not mentioned in photo caption.

Fuego, a popular restaurant located at Hotel Maya in Long Beach, hosted the world’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi on Sunday to a packed crowd of fans and patrons.

Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Ángeles consists of nine musicians and vocalists who all proudly identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. They are the first mariachi group of its kind.

The group was created by musical director Carlos Samaniego, in 2014, as a way to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ musicians who felt alienated in traditional mariachi groups. 

While patrons sipped on mimosas and enjoyed the view of the ocean water only 10 feet away, the band sang traditional mariachi music and engaged with the lively crowd who cheered them on. 

Onlookers outside of the restaurant stopped and listened to the band from the grassy area across the way.

Natalia Melendez, a violinist and singer for the group, is known as the world’s first transgender member of a mariachi group. She was excited to finally perform to a live crowd after COVID-19 restrictions closed down music venues for over a year.

“It’s a blessing … It’s such a blessing to be on stage and perform. Being an artist it really takes a toll on your heart. Being able to entertain people is my passion and I’m just so happy to be performing again,” said Melendez. 

She admitted that during quarantine she often sang to herself in her bathroom or even sometimes to her family and friends. 

The group found a way to record together without having to defy California’s social distancing ordinance. Each member would record tracks separately and send them to their manager. He would then combine their instruments and voices all together to create a performance.

Martha Rivera, a fan of the group, said she reserved a table at Fuego specifically to see the mariachi play. She even arrived early to assess where the band would be playing to find the perfect seat.

“I saw them featured on a program hosted by the [LA Public] library and I really enjoyed their story and their passion so that’s why I’m here,” said Rivera. 

Patrons of Fuego clapped and sang along as the mariachi belted out three hours worth of classic ballads that have been performed for hundreds of years. Though they are traditionally only sung by men, the women in the group were given equal opportunity to lead in the songs as well. 

But being an LGBTQ+ mariachi band in a culture that primarily values “machismo” or exaggerated masculinity has its hardships. 

In the past, director Samaniego revealed that it is difficult for the band to find gigs that do not have to do with their typical ones such as performing at PRIDE events in the Los Angeles area. This is due to homophobia/transphobia historically exhibited throughout Mexican culture. 

Mexican culture features a dominant faith in the roman catholic church. Research conducted by the Pew Research Center found that over 80% of Mexico’s population identifies as catholic. In the church, LGBTQ+ individuals are considered sinful. Just two months ago the Vatican ruled that catholic churches cannot bless same-sex marriages. 

Still, even with those hardships Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles has made national television appearances on three different widely popular daytime shows on Univision, a spanish TV network. 

They represent a shift in Mexican culture that thrives to include all members of society regardless of age, gender, or sexuality. 

Melendez has seen a huge difference in how they are treated now than when they first started performing in 2014. Specifically with the younger generation of mariachi lovers. 

“People are usually really supportive. It’s gotten so much better. We still have a long way to go but for the most part it’s good,” said Melendez.

For Melendez, the history that the band is making is well worth the fight.

“Being able to be a part of something so groundbreaking is really, it’s beyond me. I can’t even really say how fortunate and lucky I am to be a part of it…,” said Melendez. 

With California officially opening back up again on June 15th, Mariachi de Los Angeles can be expected to perform at numerous events in the future. For a list of upcoming events, fan merch, or booking information, check out their website at https://www.mariachiarcoiris.com/ 

The English Majors & Minors Club host the last open mic of the semester

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The English Majors & Minors Club host the last open mic of the semester

Over 25 people attended the Long Beach City College English Major & Minor Club open mic event on May 21 via Zoom. It was the final open mic for the spring semester. 

Before reading her poem, LBCC alumni Heidie Saenz said, “This is when I figured out I loved poetry because of the way it impacts people, whether it be getting them to think about certain things or whatever the cause might be.”

Sanez’s poem was about suicidal thoughts, and on how a lot of people cause pain and damage to her. 

Listening to her poem, you can hear the emotion in her work. 

When asked why she was passionate about writing, Saenz said, “Being able to have connections with others…because a lot of the time we feel that we are alone. It’s a way to connect with people, whether it’s reading off a poem or if I’m telling my own story.”

Poetry is a way to express yourself or resonate with other people, whether you’re the one reading it or writing it. 

All types of stories and poems were read; fantasy, sentimental, adventure, and even childrens’ books. 

Vicky Wippel, who takes free community classes at LBCC, read her piece called, “Somebunny.” 

Wippel said, “A slightly absurd story set in the South about 75 years ago that centers on neighborliness, human connection, and loneliness,” when describing her story. 

Another reader was Shaunte Washington, an LBCC student who had a poem called, “If your Mind was an Ocean.”

One of the lines from Washington’s poem read, “If your mind is the ocean then your thoughts would be the waves, your fears are giving global warming and that little beach clean up that you do will not save the dolphins…close your eyes and let God pull the tide.”

Lawrance Diggins, an LBCC student, read aloud a children’s story book he wrote a while back. Similar to Dr. Seuss, Diggins described it as, “hard on the rhyming.”

His story is about a little boy named Wyatt. The antagonist is a grump who drags Wyatt down with his words, and is also a perfectionist who wants everything done right. 

Diggins mentioned that the moral of the story is that perfectionism isn’t always key, but trying your best will get you to where you want to be.

The English Majors & Minors club will continue to be active this year. Students have the opportunity to join the club and future open mics through their website by clicking here.

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