On Tuesday, September 11th the Venezuelan Student Unity at Northeastern University hosted their Intro Meeting for the Fall 2018 Semester. The meeting started around 6:30 PM at the Behrakis Health Center and consisted mainly in explaining what the organization was, giving a brief overview of what the upcoming events of the semester would look like and getting to know the forthcoming members.

The meeting was scheduled for 6:30, but as it is commonplace in the Latino community, it was expected for people to arrive a bit later. While everybody was taking their seats, music was playing, and a timer was counting down. At 6:45 the reggeaton stopped, the timer went off, and Rodolfo del Moral, the President of VSU, began the introduction. He started by giving a little background on the organization, explaining that it was a cultural institution dedicated to promoting the Venezuelan culture on campus and serving as a platform to support the personal and professional goals of its members. He then proceeded to introduce the E-board for the Fall 2018 semester which included:

1) RODOLFO E DEL MORAL
   President
   4th year, Junior
   BS Industrial Engineering
   From Caracas, Venezuela

2) LUIS J BECHARA ROMERO
   Vice President
   4th Year, Junior
   BS Computer Science & Game Development
   From Caracas, Venezuela

3) ANDRES GUEVARA
   Treasurer
   4th year, Junior
   BS Computer Engineering
   From Caracas, Venezuela

4) ANDRES LAFUENTE
   Internal Affairs Manager
   4th year, Senior
   BSBA Marketing & Management
   From Caracas, Venezuela

5) ISABELLA DAO
   External Affairs Manager
   4th year, Junior
   BS Economics & Mathematics
   From Caracas, Venezuela

6) GABRIELLA COVA
   Social Media Manager
   4th year, Junior
   BS International Affairs & Economics
   From Caracas, Venezuela

Afterward, Luis Bechara, the Vice-President of VSU took the stage to talk about the new website and explain the goals that the organization had for the semester. He began by showing the improved VSU website interface and giving a detailed explanation of each goal of the club, which includes:

1) PROMOTE THE VENEZUELAN CULTURE:
By organizing cultural events on campus that feature Venezuelan food, music, and film; as well as promoting similar events occurring around Boston and the United States.

2) ESTABLISH A COMPETITIVE ON-CAMPUS PRESENCE:
By supporting the formation, expansion, and success of VSU teams at Northeastern University, including intramurals tournaments and social entrepreneurship pitch rounds.

3) BRING BACK SOME OF THE VENEZUELAN WARMTH TO CAMPUS:
By organizing casual weekend activities that call-back to those available to us back home, such as organizing activities such as "caimaneras", "parrilladas" and "arepadas."

4) RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS VENEZUELANS ARE FACING AND CONFRONT SOME OF THESE ISSUES:
By inviting guest speakers, maintaining a social media campaign about current affairs and organizing fundraising events to support ongoing efforts to aid Venezuelans suffering from the current crisis.

5) BRING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER:
By advertising events and promoting experiences that facilitate bonding among club members during their time at Boston and Massachusetts.

6) SUPPORT MEMBERS AND PROMOTE THEIR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS:
By facilitating study materials, group study sessions, tutoring, and counsel through class recommendation and feedback.

7) CREATE A NETWORK OF SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS AROUND BOSTON:
By connecting with other cultural Venezuelan and Latin American organizations and hosting networking events.

He later emphasized that to show the continuous commitment to each goal, the website would keep a record of all the events, achievements, teams, articles and services involved on each.

After that, the E-board invited all the members to join the different teams that were available at the club, including the sport teams such as soccer and volleyball, but also special teams, such as the fundraising and marketing team and the website technical team. They emphasized that by doing so, members could gain valuable leadership and technical skills, as well as experience to grow their resume and portfolios.

Eventually, everybody gathered around to eat some tequeños, sign up for the website, and present themselves in front of the group. In total, 37 people attended the meeting. We are extremely excited of the turnout for this meeting and are confident that as time goes by, our organization will grow and this semester will be one to remember!

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