Monday afternoon, Rio Hondo College’s student life and psychological services held an emotional tribute in Student Union 201, celebrating the life of NBA legend and sports icon Kobe Bryant. The tribute was held as a commemoration for remembering Kobe’s life and legacy along with remembering the lives of his daughter Gianna and the seven other people who lost their lives on the tragic helicopter crash, January 26th in Calabasas. 

 The tribute started with a showing of a Kobe Bryant tribute video showed to fans at Staples Center and the sports world this past Friday, in the first Laker game back since the January 26 tragedy. Mourners at the tribute in Student Union 201 looked on intently as they took in every moment remembering Kobe’s legacy. 

Rio Hondo mourns for Kobe

 After the showing of the Kobe tribute video, event coordinator and school therapist at Rio Hondo, Glenn Heap, took a moment to speak about Kobe Bryant’s life and memories. Heap stated, “I appreciated the fight Kobe had, the mamba mentality to never give up. Kobe was LA, Kobe was about winning, he was about having fun, and he was about being an amazing father to his daughters.”

 Following Heap’s speech, Dr. Denna Sanchez, a School Psychologist counselor at Rio Hondo, followed up with some inspirational words on why family and friends are so important. She urged everyone to cherish every moment with their loved ones because people may never know when they will see a loved one ever again. Furthermore, she spoke about how impactful Kobe Bryant was.

 After Heap and Dr. Sanchez’s kind words, students were allowed to follow up by sharing any stories, memories or words of there own about what Kobe meant to them. Students spoke about Kobe’s greatness, memories about watching Kobe, among other words they had to say about the Black Mamba. When reflecting on what Kobe meant to him, student Nathan Trigo remembered how, “Kobe and the Mamba mentality helped me a lot through some very tough times in my life, he was a person I knew I could always look up to.”

 The tribute was lastly ended with an MVP chant for Kobe, a team huddle, and a 24 second of silence for all the victims of the helicopter crash tragedy. The tribute left students and faculty alike a chance to cherish and remember the beautiful legacy that was brought by Kobe Bryant.