The woeful and clichéd question, "Who am I?" is woeful and clichéd for a reason: Everyone struggles with personal identity. Though it is common for people of all ages to examine their selfhoods, college students in particular have their fair share of uncertainties about who they are and where they belong. Mixed Monologues, the annual slam poetry and spoken word event held last Wednesday night at Cholmondeley's, lent talented Brandeis students a creative outlet to express their frustrations about defining identity. The event was hosted by the Mixed Heritage Club; according to its website the club's purpose is "to bring together the mixed-heritage community at Brandeis, acknowledge the diversity within the mixed heritage community, create a safe space for sharing and learning about issues relevant to the mixed-heritage community, and raise awareness about mixed-heritage people in the broader community."

Throughout the night, around 16 Brandeis students rapped, spoke, sang and slammed about diversity and belonging. Some acts caused the packed room to erupt in loud bouts of laughter, while others triggered deep breaths of awe. If the MHC wanted to create an event that would generate excitement about diversity and identity, their goal was certainly met.

Jillian Rexford '13 kicked off the night with two moving spoken-word pieces about her parents' mixed race and the difficulties that arise when the world "insists I choose." The feeling of being forced to choose a single race was a theme that many performers touched upon.

MHC founders Christina Luo '11 and Kaamila Mohamed '11 both read poetry expressing their conflicting identities and emotions; Luo spoke beautifully about how she would like to affirm her mixed identity as "not fraction by fraction but as a whole," and Mohamed delivered a tremendously powerful piece about growing to love her diverse race and religion. Though most performers were racially and religiously diverse, students without a varied heritage were encouraged to contribute. Before reading his spoken word piece, David Wayne '12 introduced himself to the crowd, stating, "I'm only one race. I'm through and through [an] Eastern European Jew, 100 percent." Wayne spoke about how faith impacted his identity, and the strength of his words left the audience with chills.

Though many performers stressed a desire to belong, several students spoke about denying labels and celebrating strangeness. Marissa Linzi '11 read a fiery piece about how she can't stand people who "take one sticker and make it my entire identity," and Nathan Hakimi '11 discussed his Middle Eastern-American parentage, stating, "So what am I? I'm nothing. . There's unity. No I, no me, just we."

While many students chose to communicate their ideas through spoken word and poetry, music was another key element brought out in the event. Raymond Persaud '12 entertained the crowd with capoeira, an Afro-Brazaillian art form that combines song, dance and martial arts.

Though he didn't perform any back flips, Persaud's Portuguese song and foreign instrument undoubtedly held the audience's attention. Other crowd favorites were the incredibly profound Osaze Akerejah '14 (also known as "Size A"), who rapped about how ego can change identity, and Mathew Urbach '11, who transformed the room's relaxed vibe by having the crowd stand up and enthusiastically rock to his rhythms.

Abdul Aziz Dieng '14 was the night's final act, and his performance completely blew the crowd away. Born to a Senegalese father and a German mother, Dieng is familiar with conflicting identities and addressed some of the issues that come with them in his rap. With his quick rhymes, confident stage presence and great swagger, Dieng made a Wednesday night at Chum's feel more like a Flo Rida concert.

Beside his energy, Dieng's rap lyrics were so fun and catchy that I even found myself, a loyal rap hater, tapping my foot to the beat.

As Dieng began his second rap, the question, "Who is this guy?" started to circulate around the room. "He's a freshman!" I overheard one girl say to her friend. "At Brandeis?" the other exclaimed. Though many in people in Chums were in disbelief, Dieng really does go here.

The night ended with an enormous round of applause and plenty of hugs and congratulations to go around. If Brandeis students did not know it before, Mixed Monologues only further proved how diverse, unique and creative our community truly is.