On Friday, November 20, 2015, the Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) hosted its first annual All Abilities Talent Show. The show consisted of 13 acts presented by students and a professor. The show was open to the public and it was free.

“We believe everyone has talent no matter the disability one has,” comments President of SOTA Julian Demartinis, a graduate student who is majoring in occupational therapy.

Demartinis opens the night with a speech of how everyone has some sort of talent, whether it be singing or dancing. On the night of the show, the different talents ranged from slam poetry to hip-hop dancing to juggling. The first performer was Joy Ann Dimanculangan, who is a sophomore majoring in psychology. She sang “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 while playing guitar. Attendees enjoyed the singing, some even singing along with her.

Other performers include Andrew Grosso, a senior who is majoring in business management. He is also a hip-hop artist and producer and is part of the hip-hop group Most Valuable Poets (MVPs).  Also, junior and communications major MacKenzy Samedi read a couple of his poems from his published book The Legacy of My Poems: The Psalms of A King/Som De Yon Wa.

“My favorite performer was Deaf Jammers because it was something unique,” comments junior therapeutic recreation major Kyle Rios. He continues to say that the performance was “different and you don’t see that every day.” The Deaf Jammers had four performers that night: Marissa Falzone, a senior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences; Roshni Patel, a senior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences; Carly Matthews, a senior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences; and Kayla Bendul, a senior majoring in psychology and pre-physical therapy. The performance was of the song “Hold My Hand” by Jess Glynne performed in sign language.

“I can’t say what was my favorite performance,” comments attender John, who is a relative of one of the performers, “all of them were great, but I have to say that Deaf Jammers was the best one.” Another performer that the attendees liked was Amara Riccio. One attendee, Emily, a relative of a performer, comments, “I really like the poem she recited. It was beautiful. Her dance was amazing as well. I just loved her overall performance.” Riccio is a junior majoring in therapeutic recreation.

Before and after the talent show attendees were able to donate to benefit SOTA, PAR FORE and the occupation therapy department as a whole. The donations will help the organization pay for a bus to do more community service outside of the campus. PAR FORE is an organization that has the goal to prevent gang membership and stands for Perseverance, Accountability, Resiliency, Fellowship, Opportunity, Respect and Empowerment.

If anyone would like to know more about PAR FORE, visit the PAR FORE website. If anyone would like to know more about the SOTA organization, please visit their Cougar Link page.