By Kayla Cheung and Sophia Garcia
Although October may seem like a month of frivolity, with most people most concerned with Halloween and its many joys, it is also Breast Cancer Awareness month. On Friday, Miami Lakes Educational Center had its annual “Pink Day,” encouraging students, faculty, and staff to sport pink attire in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.
Oddly, it seemed as though COVID-19 ravaged what attendees of MLEC are used to when it comes to days like Pink Day. There was no sea of pink. There were no photo-ops taken in close quarters or any particularly exciting events taking place on campus. People went about October 16, truly, as if it was any other day. The campus had been anomalously dull.
However, Breast Cancer Awareness month still holds a very special place in the hearts of some people who have personally experienced loss, seen family and friends suffer, or both, due to a form of Breast Cancer. Albeit morbid, widespread experiences such as witnessing an individual pass through the treacherous ordeal of any form of Breast Cancer brings people together. After all, people do often bond over the less-fortunate situations of life.
“I’m wearing pink [today] for my Grandma”, says Abigail Ruiz, a Senior at MLEC.
Ruiz is not alone. Even though there were much fewer people wearing pink or on campus at all than usual, the emotional significance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month was present in the hearts of students regardless of circumstance. Some students took their support for Breast Cancer Awareness even further than the walls of MLEC by participating in events like Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
“I actually do a walk every year, for breast cancer, but this year, obviously because of COVID, it was canceled”, explains MLEC Senior and Class of 2021 President Raymond Hung.
There is no one way to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. MLEC has, although in a very minute way, kept the event alive by including so much as a “Pink Day.” It was not a day of celebration and confetti. The dull undertones of October 16 introduced a day of remembrance more than anything else.
Students were able to take the blueprint of MLEC’s usual “Pink Day” and remember why they choose to participate year-after-year.
