By Abdul Djabbour// Staff writer
St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish celebration held every March 17th. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, so this day commemorates his holiday, both in his country and in other parts of the world.
In the United States, Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many ways and styles. There are parades in cities such as New York, New Orleans, Chicago or Boston. In the city of Chicago, Illinois, it is a tradition to dye the Chicago river green on Saint Patrick’s Day, as part of the celebrations that take place throughout the country
It is a popular celebration throughout the world, in which it was common to see people dressed in green, wearing large top hats, carrying three-leaf clovers and drinking beer in the streets.
Many people annually participate in the St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin. Dublin holds a multi-day celebration of parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks displays. Parties featuring Irish food and drinks dyed green are part of this celebration. It is also commonplace to enjoy a pint of beer in a typical Irish pub.
For this day the lucky color is green, so people dye their hair green, wear green clothes and even eat food. And the clover (shamrock) has been considered a sacred plant to this day.
The typical Irish dishes that are usually eaten are traditional meat dishes such as roast chicken and guinness stew. Corned beef with cabbage is a traditional dish that goes great with beer.
The “Got Luck” event in commemoration of Saint Patrick is organized by Student Health and Wellness. Selena Sifontes, the event planner, is the event coordinator at FIU.
“During Saint Patrick’s Day people tend to drink a lot of alcohol and use a lot of drugs and in this event we have different ways to learn and educate students about these substances,” said Sifontes.
The St. Patrick’s Day event in FIU has three tables. Each of the tables tries to educate students, the first table demonstrates ways to manage peer pressure. The second table explains the ladder of addiction and through some glasses shows how your vision looks when you have a lot of alcohol in your blood. The third table teaches you a little more about alcohol and drugs.
Also at the end of the tables they give you a night cap to cover your drinks and protect yourself from other people who could try to put something in your drink at parties, clubs and other places.
Collins said that this event brings awareness about, “self pressure, mental instability, mental dependence, addiction and that this event helps students to be aware of drugs and alcohol problems and how to find a solution through rehab, psychology or talking.”
Sifontes’ purpose is to be able to educate students on how to prevent a blackout, how to drink correctly, how to stop using drugs and how to prevent addiction.
FIU’s Alcohol and Drug survey is an analysis where students can learn more about alcohol, drugs and if they present a problem and how to solve it.