My social adventures: UNIDOS

By Ifeanyi Onwumah

Continuing my quest to find excitement outside of class, I decided to stretch across the aisle. I ventured into something that I wasn’t familiar with and in hopes of being part of something bigger than myself so that I could learn and have fun at the same time, which is not always the case in the classroom. I looked for different clubs and activities that were available on campus and I really couldn’t find anything that fit into my schedule. Coincidentally, I ran into a student (Hi, Jenny!) who was interested in promoting her group: UNIDOS!

The name alone drew my attention and she explained their mission is to educate and broaden the awareness of SXU’s Latino Community. Since I was as ignorant as can be of the Latino community and it was a good opportunity to reach out and learn about other cultures, I decided to attend a meeting (they are held every other Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the student lounge, just in case!) Unfortunately, I had missed the first meeting where new members were introduced and different committees and duties had already been assigned, but I was nevertheless glad I attended because I had a lot of fun.

It just so happened that the events scheduled for that day included learning famous South American dances such as Salsa and Merengue (I never knew how to spell that word correctly until I started writing this article).

Slow learner that I am, it took me a while to get used to the basic steps which are not at all complicated. At first it was dry because we had to learn the moves without music but as soon as the music came on I felt like I was at a party. I had gotten used to the steps and everyone was moving to the rhythm of the song and we were all just having a good time! Not only did we learn the moves to the dances we also learned of their origins and history which were good to know that way, when you’re dancing, you also know why you are doing what you’re doing.

I loved the event so much that I decided to stick around and become a permanent member of UNIDOS. Being a part of this group is a huge deal to me because it expands my social outreach and provides the right amount of fun and learning to my college experience, what more could I ask for?

Ifeanyi Onwumah is a sophomore philosophy major from South Holland. He participates in several campus clubs. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.