The 29th Annual Student Conference on Latino Affairs and MSC CAMAC presented Latinx Comedy Night hosting comedian and Texas A&M graduate of 1983, Shayla Rivera on March 3.
Riveras’ comedy act was intended to break down stereotypes of the Hispanic/Latino community through comedy. The show also featured a panel of three speakers who along with Rivera tackled question the audience had regarding stereotypes in the Hispanics/Latino community.
While Rivera graduated with a degrees in aerospace engineering and psychology, and worked at NASA for eight years, Rivera considers her true calling to be stand up comedy.
“My number one goal is to inspire through laughter,” Rivera said. “When you make people laugh they remember stuff better than if they are bored or upset.”
Biotechnology graduate Molika Sinha said watching Rivera’s show gave her insight to a way of life that is different than her own.
“It showed how the Hispanic women and men think and how other people think,” Sinha said. “It gave me a clearer picture of what Hispanic culture is.”
Rivera was not alone in helping to shine a new light on the Latino community, for she also had help from a panel of three speakers who were featured during the last half of the show. International affairs graduate Erika Elizondo said she found the panel member’s input to be especially interesting.
“It resonated when the panelist said that some Hispanic families believe that it’s kinda like a betrayal when you leave home to pursue your own thing.” Elizondo said. “That is something that I am dealing with right now.”
Rivera said she hopes the audience will leave with a sense of confidence and ability to embrace their unique personalities.
“All I want is for people to walk away from is and think that we are all unicorns.” Rivera said. “Just relax, it’s okay, we are all different and that is exactly what we should be.”