ESL student Arnaldo Mendonca won first place prize of $50 at the Library Club’s fifth annual Poetry Night on Wednesday, Dec. 5 with his poem “I Was Them.”

He explained his poem by saying, “It’s about the connection between everything in the world and life. I was in the heart of the amazon forest, it was not a common place. When i saw those stars, it looked like they where really talking to me. I will never forget that experience.”

Second place went to Lisa Mendez for her poem “Balloon” with a $25 prize and third place went to Stephanie Cristell for her poem “Y Esque” with a $35 dollar prize.

The Poetry Night gives Cerritos College students the chance to share their poetry to the public.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for students to be able to voice the ideas they have and their feeling. It allows them to really be creative and express themselves in different languages,” Paula Pereira, librarian and Library Club advisor, said.

All the proceeds of each ticket that the Library Club sold for the Poetry Night and all canned food donations will be going to the Cerritos College Health Center food bank.

Librarian Monica Lopez said, “I think the Poetry Night turned out awesome because not only did we have people sharing and being part of the contest. I think it was the open mike had the most participation.”

For the Poetry Night, students had at least seven minutes to recite their poems. The students who where reciting their poems were splits into two acts, Act One and Act Two. Those who had the best poems were rewarded cash prize.

Talking about his opportunity about reciting his poem, Mendonca said, “I had a few things in my heart and soul. I would like to share with people so I said this was a good opportunity.”