As part of the Introduction to Recreation course taught by professor Josué Giménez, students had to walk around campus on Monday, February 13, 2017 smiling and with the mission to hug everyone in their path, as a way to spread happiness and show that one person can change the conditions and mood of their surroundings.
The sun was hot, it was almost noon and there was a caravan of more than 30 students making noise with little toy trumpets, wearing hearts and “romantic” emoji’s around their necks as if those were formal ties and with little fake red noses on their noses – where they are bound to be worn –, ears (simulating piercings) and hats for decorative reasons. Alas, Recreational students being fun and doing what they do best: bringing the fun to you!
We started off the Caravana de la Amistad at the Complejo Deportivo smiling and hugging dedicated athletes who needed the motivation and tired security guards who then lit up when they were hugged and wished a Happy Valentine’s Day!
We then moved the caravan to AJBR, where we invaded all of three floors of the building, we visited DMN’s lobby and mainly interacted with a religious aggrupation. We also visited the Student Center and hugged some hungry students and gave them some dessert: heart shaped lollipops! At the Center, we also got to talk with students studying for exams, who found the hugs fair necessary to keep their hopes up and not worry – entirely or negatively – about their grades.
Because this class is offered through 11:20 to 12:50, there is always someone with an amazing lunch in the classroom that distracts you with their “exotic smell”, as one of the male students would say. So, we decided to visit the cooks to give them hugs of gratitude for keeping bellies full in such hard hours to take a class.
Quick hug stop at the Humanities’ gazebo and finally, we reached our final destination, Recreation and Physical Education’s sister building: Education! Going against the rules and making all of the most noise possible near their library, we hugged “a diestra y siniestra”, a little dog included – we gave the lollipop to the dog’s caretaker/owner.
After 40 minutes of hugging random students just to see them smile or laugh or look at us sideways, we concluded our hug fest and took a group photo in front of the beautiful and colorful mural in the Education Lobby.
“I cannot express this any other way than saying that I feel “súper brutal”! When we started the semester most of them were shy and didn’t know what to expect, a lot of them are not from the field, but with the dynamics I integrate in class they opened up. I believe that after the first hugs that we gave in the Complejo Deportivo, they all understood the essence of the activity: share some happiness with our peers! There’s too much people on the dark side, I decided to be on the bright side of the force”, (yes, he cited Star Wars), “and be one of those persons that gives out positive vibes. We cannot change the world, but we can change this little place on the planet that we call home!” -Professor Josué Giménez
‘Happy’, ‘pumped’, ‘tired’, ‘sweaty’, ‘good’, ‘fun’ were some of the words that helped describe the huggers feelings towards the hug-a-thon they just had. Once back in the classroom they described some of their experiences towards this physical and emotional exposure to other students around campus. One of the female students actually stated that this activity brightened up her day! Another male student pointed out that the gallitos and jerezanas either laughed at us or with us! The class concluded that even through all of our obstacles – time of day, parchedness and rejection – we still met our objective and had a great time!
P.D.: Our sources confirm that we reached a billion hugs!*
*Hugs value depended on the area of campus it was given out!
Pictures by: Sara Umpierre