Students form connections at ASI's Speed Dating event

post-pandemic world.

"The ultimate goal with these events is to enhance the student experience on campus because we understand that students want breaks from their stressful routines," said April Castro, ASI Beach Pride events coordinator. "We've seen how beneficial these events can be for the students' mental well-being and their college experiences."

Starting off the event, the enthusiastic blind speed dating game show showcased three student contestants competing to win a date with a mystery girl through a series of questions and discussions.

After asking the contestants to list their best qualities and pick-up lines, the mystery girl chose contestant number two, declaring him the winner of the game show.

"I liked the bachelor-bachelorette show they had at the beginning, that was a real kitschy and cute idea," said Ulan Tagoylo, a studio arts transfer student.

ASI's speed dating events are hosted on a first-come first-serve basis, encouraging students to attend early to skip the line.

For more information, students can check the organization's event calendar for future speed dating events as well as other student community events.

Reminiscent of old blind dating television programs. The dating show portion of the event separated the mystery girl and the contestants, adding a sense of anonymity to the contest.

BY ABIGAIL WALL Staff Writer

The Getty Museum has opened a new exhibit that features the writing of 23 student interns from southern California. Including alumna Brianna Aguilera who graduated from Long Beach State in spring 2022.

The “Our Voices, Our Getty: Reflecting our Drawings” exhibit features two reflections on historical drawings written by Aguilera.

She chose 16th century drawing “Flowers and Beetles” by Hans Hoffman. Aguilera wrote in her reflection that the drawing reminded her of memories with her grandmother in the garden.

Aguilera also chose the drawing “Waterfall in the Mountains by Moonlight” by Franz "Innocenz" Kobell as it reminded her of camping with her friends and family.

“I knew that I wanted to be an artist deep down inside, and I tried to ignore that for monetary gain and it just didn’t work out,” said Aguilera. “I just tried to follow my intuition and that led me to Cal State Long Beach and the Getty.”

This is the first display to feature interpretations written only by interns. These personal reflections shared many different voices through each art piece.

The idea for the show was for interns to not interpret art pieces from a historical point of view but rather from more personal reflections.

Edina Adam, the assistant curator of drawings at the Getty, believed that this was a way to involve interns in the making of an exhibition.

“I figured a good way of doing that would be asking them not to interpret objects from an art historical point of view, which is what we normally do in these galleries, but to write personal or very creative responses to the drawings that they selected,” Adam said.

The 10-week summer internship program has helped students learn about working in the museum industry and make connections.

“I really think it brought the group together,” Adam said. “ I think it really had an impact on them, they became a very close-knit cohort which is awesome.”

Aguilera believes that this exhibit is a good opportunity for interns to learn about museum practices.

“I was able to learn a lot about the ins and outs of the museum industry and that was important to me as an artist because I want to sell artwork,” said Aguilera.