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Sunday, April 20, 2014

Cultural Event #5 - Drag Show

For my last cultural event blog I wanted to talk about an event that is very dear to my heart, the Drag Show. The Drag Show is another Program Board event I work adamantly with. I started working on the Drag Show 3 years ago and it is my favorite event. The Drag Show is put on by Allies and Program Board. It’s a benefit show for Community Networks of Martinsburg for HIV/AIDS prevention, and is the second largest fundraisers at Shepherd.



This year is the 10th annual Drag Show, which is extremely exciting to think for a decade we’ve been raising money to benefit Community Networks in Martinsburg for HIV prevention.


The process of planning an event this large takes a whole school year. We started this planning this fall semester. We start so early because it is always a challenge to pick a date that works for the Shepherd calendar, but that also works with the Drag Queens. Since the Queens donate their time to us we can’t say “hey, this is the date do it or you won’t get paid”. Plus their schedules are busy with other shows and pageants.


Eventually we settled on April 11th and also figured out a theme, Lights Out on HIV, which was a black light theme. It was so cool. We had glow sticks we used to decorate tables and LED fiber optic lights, the Student Center recently installed LED stage lights which changed colors at the beat of the music, which added a more club like atmosphere.  




The event was spectacular. We raised over $2,000, which was our goal. So thrilled! Two Queens made their debut at our show this year and we had a lot of people attending for the first time, which makes me so happy to think this event will continue and we will continue to make a positive impact. 


Cultural Event 4 - New York City Trip


On March 1st I went to NYC with Program Board. I love NYC. It is so full of life and culture. This trip was even more special, because I got to take my mom with me this time. My mom hadn’t been since she was in high school. I’ve been to NYC 5 times on school and graduation trip to see Broadway shows and just to explore, so this trip was about showing her all my favorite places.

The bus ride turned out to be a cultural experience, because we watched the Lion King, and people sang-along, which was hilarious!

Once we arrived, we went to the 9/11 Memorial. It is a beautiful memorial. From there we hopped back onto the subway, which is crazy! We got lost. While we were waiting for our train we were looking at one of the maps and it just blows my how they built the system. We arrived then at Rockefeller Center, which is full of history. We did the Top of the Rock tour, where you go up 70 flights. The elevator ride is a little scary to be honest, but the view is breathtaking!




After the tour we went over to Time Square and were total tourist. From there we went to the Disney Store in honor of me getting into the Disney College Program! We spent like 2 hours in there. Then we went to dinner at Junior’s, they also serve New Style Cheesecake. My one piece of cake was huge, but delicious! It was a great time and mother-daughter bonding moment.