397 students participated in this year’s Town Hall that took place on Friday, May 6 to discuss solutions to societal issues.
Town Hall is an event where students from various classes come together to discuss important topics going on in our world today. Each student is required to research and form an opinion on any societal issue they choose from a list provided by their professors.
Town Hall occurred Friday May 6, at 10 a.m. with introductory speeches in the Great Hall.
Pierce College student Tanisha Saunders gave those participating in the Town Hall a speech on her own experience with the event last year. She believes the event has helped her find her voice and hopes that students will get involved by realizing they can make a difference.
“You are somebody, you have a voice,” Saunders said.
Political Science professor and event coordinator Denise Robb sent students to their assigned areas to discuss their topics with encouraging words.
“Go get em and change the world,” Robb said.
Each student was assigned a classroom to go to depending on the subject they chose to research. In each classroom there was an expert in the area various topics were being discussed.
Students believed there were many purposes of the event. They believed it was to become more aware of societal issues and to learn how to problem solve and listen to other’s perspectives on the same issues.
“Our opinions are based on our own experiences,” Saunders said.
This means that no two people are going to have the same exact views on important issues.
However, that did not discourage students. In fact, it did the opposite. They believed the event was a good way of listening to other’s perspectives while also talking about their own.
Pierce College student, Samira Goldarreh attended Town Hall and was interested in learning about other students beliefs and viewpoints.
“I would say we’re getting more of a social interaction so we’re getting to see different people’s perspectives and you also get to say yours,” Goldarreh said.
Aside from hearing other student’s outlooks, some are looking forward to broadening their horizons and potentially find others willing to take action after the event to make a difference.
Pierce College student Samerra Green attended the Town Hall event and learned about others opinions and perspectives.
“It would be cool to see if others would bring those up to see that there’s a wider view and that maybe, possibly, things can be changed,” Samerra said.
“Maybe people are willing to do outside work like petition and contact our congressman to try and get some things sorted out,” Samerra said.
