By | Juan Herrera
“You get three minutes,” Johnathan Salinas said. “Then it’s on to the next.”
According to Salinas, head coordinator for Queer “Speed Friending”, this is the seventh time they have put on this event and each time the LGBTQA community gets stronger and stronger at HSU.
“We tried to imitate the speed dating concept, but for friends,” said Salinas.
Making a new friend in just three minutes is something that is hard to do. Not a lot of people have the time, resources, or ability to sit down and conversate with new people to get to know them.
Queer “Speed-Friending” is an event that makes this possible. It gives queer people on campus an opportunity to make new friends in a comfortable sober environment. The idea of this event is to bring together everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual preference.
Salinas also mentioned Queer “Speed-Friending” encourages people to be open minded and try not be nervous so everyone is comfortable during their time.
During this event there were multiple clubs that had a booth to promote their organization’s messages and activities. One of the clubs that attended was Pure Health.
According to Aly Weaver, a member of Pure Health, this organization focuses on non-fear based education regarding alcohol, sex, and mental health issues. During the event Weaver and her crew were promoting to be strong and not have fear about those issues.
“Our message here was to bring more awareness of fearful topics on campus,” Weaver said. “Our end goal is to keep people safe.”
Weaver also mentioned that this is Pure Health’s first time attending Queer “Speed-Friending”, and it won’t be their last.
Another first-timer, HSU student Connor Ray Austin, expects his first experience at this event to be successful with new friends and full of surprises.
“There’s tons of new people on campus and this seemed like a good way to meet them,” Austin said. “I just picked up the flyer one day and thought it was a cool idea so I came.”
Salinas and his crew put on this event at least once a semester so people have the opportunity to meet and greet all the new faces at Humboldt State.
“If you’re new here or just want to make new friends Queer ‘Speed-Friending’ is the place for you!” Salinas said.
