Manifestaciones (Manifestations) Manifestaciones or short for Mani is a leadership retreat hosted by the Center for Latino Arts and Culture (CLAC) located on College Avenue. Although it is expected that this retreat is only for Latinos since it is hosted by the CLAC, anyone from any race can go because although the retreat is Latino-oriented it is not Latino exclusive. There is an application that every potential participant must fill out and the participants are chosen based on their responses on the application. Because of limited space, not everyone is allowed to go but I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the participants. For me, Mani was truly one of the bet experience of my life that I will never forget. At first,
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Right from the start, the facilitators already had the participants doing an activity for us to break us out of our shells. On the way there we had to sit next to someone that we did not know and learned things about them in which we had to present later on as evidence that we did the activity. Right away from the start, I made a friend that I will never forget. Mani went on for three days and two nights on October 21-23 in a YMCA-owned facility called Camp Bernie. Every day was full of workshops and activities that would both educate us and bring everyone together. My favorite activity was a team building exercise called the Low Ropes. This exercise involved the use of ropes that were set up as obstacles and everyone had to get through them with the help of the teammates. Whenever someone slipped off or was about to fall the team members would be on the sides ready to …show more content…
One person in which I had an automatic connection to was Ansly. We meet over dinner and it was as if we had known each other for years because the conversations would just flow. Till this day everyone that went to Mani still talks in a group chat where we plan get-togethers and inform each other on upcoming events. Mani was also very useful in educating everyone on important issues that are rarely addressed in society because it makes people uncomfortable. Such topics include respecting and properly understanding the way a person chooses to identify both through ethnicity and sexual orientation. One of the many aspects of Mani that I love is the open environment that it offered. During the last night, we had a workshop that was dedicated to answering any anonymous question that anyone had regarding sex. Most individuals are scared to get answers because of judgment but that was not an issue at Mani. I hope to return next year as a facilitator and hope that it will be as great as the first
Right from the start, the facilitators already had the participants doing an activity for us to break us out of our shells. On the way there we had to sit next to someone that we did not know and learned things about them in which we had to present later on as evidence that we did the activity. Right away from the start, I made a friend that I will never forget. Mani went on for three days and two nights on October 21-23 in a YMCA-owned facility called Camp Bernie. Every day was full of workshops and activities that would both educate us and bring everyone together. My favorite activity was a team building exercise called the Low Ropes. This exercise involved the use of ropes that were set up as obstacles and everyone had to get through them with the help of the teammates. Whenever someone slipped off or was about to fall the team members would be on the sides ready to …show more content…
One person in which I had an automatic connection to was Ansly. We meet over dinner and it was as if we had known each other for years because the conversations would just flow. Till this day everyone that went to Mani still talks in a group chat where we plan get-togethers and inform each other on upcoming events. Mani was also very useful in educating everyone on important issues that are rarely addressed in society because it makes people uncomfortable. Such topics include respecting and properly understanding the way a person chooses to identify both through ethnicity and sexual orientation. One of the many aspects of Mani that I love is the open environment that it offered. During the last night, we had a workshop that was dedicated to answering any anonymous question that anyone had regarding sex. Most individuals are scared to get answers because of judgment but that was not an issue at Mani. I hope to return next year as a facilitator and hope that it will be as great as the first