Body imaging, mental health, reading plus the pursuit of one’s dreams on the list
(Seguin) – TLU is bringing home the gold this week with a Hispanic Heritage Month presentation being led by U.S. Olympic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez.
Hernandez, who has accomplished an array of successes both off and on the gym mat, will be on hand to speak to students and to the Seguin community this Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Texas Lutheran University’s Jackson Auditorium.
Ashlie Ford, TLU director of marketing and communications, says the students are especially excited about her visit and look forward to her words.
“This is another free event that is open to the public sponsored by our Brown Cultural Enrichment Endowment Fund and Hernandez is going to be discussing her journey to wining gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and she is also going to address things like mental health and positive body image. The types of things that she dealt with as a professional gymnast and that she still is really passionate about right now and there is a lot of excitement among our students to see her. She’s also been on Dancing with the Stars. She’s published several books. She’s also an actress so our students are very aware of who she is and the impact that she has had and we are very excited to have her on our campus,” said Ford.
While on Dancing with the Stars, Hernandez went on to win the coveted mirror ball trophy. She has also since published two books, both of which are New York Times bestsellers. The first was in 2017 and titled ‘I Got This: To Gold and Beyond.’ The second is a 2018 children’s picture book called “She’s Got This.”
Young girls and Barbie fans might also remember the release of the Laurie Hernandez “Shero” Barbie. The doll was created by Mattel in honor of her work as a literacy champion – “promoting readership as a path to leadership.”
A passion for acting has also led her to pursue an acting and screenwriting degree and has co-hosted American Ninja Warrior Junior.Ford says Hernandez’ visit to campus also helps to recognize her success as a Latina.
“We are also excited to host her as we celebrate Latin Heritage Month, and our theme is this year is ‘Unidos con Esperanza’ which means ‘United With Hope.’ Laurie is another guest speaker that we will have. She is a second generation American whose grandparents are from Puerto Rico, and she was the first U.S. born Latina to make the U.S. Olympic team since 1984 so we are very excited that she will be here on campus and that our students will have the chance to meet someone who has been really groundbreaking in her field,” said Ford.
Today, she travels across the country serving as a “fierce advocate” for mental health and has partnered with multiple campaigns and initiatives to encourage awareness on the issue.
The presentation is free. No tickets are required. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.