May 15th, 2010
After much planning, the Beyond the Wall Official Presentation on May 14th, 2010, was a success. Of course, what grabbed the attention of many was the visit of Miss Colombia 2010, Natalia Navarro Galvis, who flew from Colombia to attend my event. The purpose of the event was to promote the campaign, and to celebrate the culture of Colombia through music such as Cumbia from the coast of Colombia and Salsa from Cali.
The day began with Miss Colombia visiting Castle Creek Elementary School, which has been a huge supporter of my campaign. That school has managed to donate many large bags full of clothes and shoes, which of course will be distributed to the people of El Talon in July of the present year. I thought it would be interesting for Miss Colombia to visit the school that has supported me so much, so that is why I took her right before my presentation. Unfortunately, we were about a half an hour late due to a shuttle launch that caused quite a lot of traffic, so not all the children of Castle Creek had a chance to meet Miss Colombia. However, there were still many that had the opportunity to meet her, and the children were very excited. She was even given flowers! The visit was short since we were late for the official presentation, but it was definitely a cool stop.
Throughout the whole day, I had a group of students organizing the school for the arrival of Miss Colombia at Timber Creek High School. I obviously could not organize the event that day because I had the responsibility of taking care of Miss Colombia and her chaperone throughout the whole trip here to Orlando. The morning before I picked up Miss Colombia, I dropped off food and beverages, as well as a flash drive with my presentation that included videos and pictures of my event. The items I dropped off were to be picked up by a student I approved of, since I could not organize the event, as I mentioned. That student lost my flash drive, and I was left with no presentation. I worked hours on my presentation, and it was completely gone, since I had no back up and my email was not able to be opened at Timber Creek due to school policies. When I arrived with Miss Colombia and her chaperone, I still did not know that this had occured. Miss Colombia and I were greeted by the Timber Creek High ROTC students, and we were guided to the reception of Miss Colombia. There, Miss Colombia and I were interviewed by the press, and students and teachers had the opportunity to meet and speak with Miss Colombia. As that occured, I was informed about my missing flash drive, and my temper was very short.
As I calmed down, and figured there was no way to get such a long presentation in less than five minutes, I figured I simply had to improvise. I was not at all happy with that decision, since I had promised the Miss Colombia Organization (Concurso Nacional de Belleza) a great presentation, and I did not want to lose their trust in me. However, Miss Colombia and her chaperone are very humble people, and they understood exactly what was going on. After I made my decision, everyone in the reception, including Miss Colombia and I, went to the Performing Arts Center.
The event began with the ROTC dedication to the United States and Colombia. After, I improvised my whole way through the presentation. There was a salsa dance to show my father's culture from el Valle (Colombia) and a cumbia dance to show my mother's culture from Bolivar (Colombia). There were also two rock presentations performed by children, to show the culture of my hometown, Los Angeles. Miss Colombia spoke about her experience helping my campaign, and Mrs. Doromal, my Service Learning teacher in high school, also spoke about her opinion on my campaign's rapid growth. Of course, I also announced the plans of the construction of a community center in El Talon.
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All in all, my presentation was a success, even though I improvised it. I felt I did a good job with everything I said, and everyone seemed to like my presentation. Miss Colombia showed her humble personality with everyone, and I am very happy the people of central Florida had a chance to meet her. I want to thank the Concurso Nacional de Belleza for their continuing support, and of course, Miss Colombia 2010, Natalia Navarro Galvis, for all her support and for being such a good friend. I also want to thank Laura Jaramillo, Fabiana E. Diaz Vidal, Astrid Escalante, Elisa Avila, Esthefania Diaz, Chase Young, Gabriel Pluguez, Wendy Doromal, all the Timber Creek High School staff, all the Castle Creek Elementary staff, Daniel Amezquita, and Juan Pablo Giraldo for helping me so much. I want to especially thank the students of Castle Creek Elementary and Timber Creek High School for all their donations for the needy in Colombia!
