Albany LatinFest:  What it Means to Me
    by Michaela Burbank

My name is Michaela Noel Asencio Burbank, and I am 17 years old.  I live in Guilderland, New York, where I attend High School as a senior.  I plan to attend a four-year school and I need as much scholarship money as I can get, as I come from a family of five other kids.  Every year since I was little, I have enjoyed the wonderful music, the mouth-watering food, and the cultural celebration at the Albany Latin Fest.  However the Albany Latin Fest is not just a place to get authentic Latin cooking, it is a tradition.  The Latin Fest is the only thing that brings me back to Spanish Harlem to my great grandma's apartment, where aromas of Puerto Rico filled the air, and let's not forget to mention the melodic tunes of the island.

The fest is a large part of my life considering that my father is Puerto Rican from New York City and has been part of the fest as long as I can remember.  I currently live with my mom and my step family, who are not the least bit Latino.  Yet, I still try to expose them to the Latin culture by taking them to the fest.  It was a good feeling to see my step family enjoying something that was part of me, almost like we were all truly united.  I also introduced friends to the Latino culture of the fest, and each one wanted to come back the next year.

The Albany Latin Fest is also a huge part of the community.  People from Albany, New York City and even other states come to celebrate the Latino culture.  For one day, it seems like everyone is happy and part of a whole community, even if they are not from Albany.  To me, the Albany Latin Fest is a way for everyone of every culture to connect, even if they are the furthest thing from being Latino.  Being Latino is not just an ethnic background; it is a way of life.

Music . . . A Key to the Future
    by Daniela Virviescas

Music is the key to our future.  It's how we communicate without having to speak the same language.  It's something people from Argentina to Nicaragua can have in common.  Music somehow seems to transform humans into more amiable people.  At a celebration, even if people don't necessarily know each other, they'll dance together.

Music breeds friendships.  Two people from completely different worlds can like the same music genre, or the same band, or even the same song and those two people can bond over their common interest.

Not only is music an amazing force that brings people together, but it inspires messages and feelings that help us express ourselves.  Musicians from all walks of life can talk about world issues, pain, love, hunger, happiness, peace!  They can inform people.  They can help people through a hard time in their life.  They can break barriers.  Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes has helped promote unity and peace not only by performing on the border between Colombia and Venezuela during times of political tension, but he performed in Cuba to help promote freedom and peace.

Latino musicians have managed to break the language and culture barrier to express thought that the whole world can agree on.  It's with this togetherness and communication that we can have a positive future.  We can unite people.  We can unite countries.  We can unite the world.

And so, some people may think of music as something that breaks the silence, or something that they listen to when they're bored, but music is much more than that.  It's what brings us together.  It's what gets our issues out in the open in a non-conflictive manner.  Music is what's always going to be there for us in the future, and a future full of music is a future full of unity.