The San Diego City College Learning Resource Center celebrated Dia de los Muertos on Tuesday, Nov. 1 and Wednesday, Nov. 2. 

The LRC honored deceased loved ones with photos on an altar. Students were also encouraged to write down the names of their loved ones on sticks and put them on the altar. 

“I see a lot of students coming through that have never seen this happening,” said Rudy Juarez, senior media clerk. “So we had 600 students putting loved ones on.” 

Dia de los Muertos, according to history.com, is a Mexican holiday where the dead are honored and reunite with their loved ones. It is celebrated from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. 

Students from all backgrounds were invited to join the festivities, which included making sugar skulls, paper flowers and papel picado. Papel picado is paper cut out in unique ways for decoration. 

For many students, participating in these activities reminded them of home. 

“They were like, you know, that reminds me of Mexico,” library tech Guillermina Lewis said. “That’s nice hear to that.”

This is the first time the LRC has celebrated Dia de los Muertos in years due to the pandemic and the stay was eager to engage with students in person. 

“During COVID, we couldn’t do this,” Juarez said. “We decided to do some activities for students to come during this time to learn.”