CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Je’Sani Smith Foundation’s annual Scholarship Awards reception was held Friday night at the Omni Hotel, and an important announcement was made.
Using virtual reality, they can now advance their mission to raise awareness of the dangers of rip currents.
“It’s a little disorienting, but I’m sure being stuck in a current is disorienting too,” said Alysa Cantu Benware.
Cantu Benware occasionally goes to the beach and decided to put on the virtual reality glasses. She experienced a simulation of a surf current.
“It showed me when to call for help. It showed me how far you can sink. Of course, the most important thing is not to panic,” she said.
The Je’Sani Smith Foundation was founded after 18-year-old Je’Sani Smith was caught in a rip current and died in 2019. Since then, the foundation has been raising awareness of the dangers of rip currents.
The VR rescue program first familiarizes you with the environment while swimming. It shows you how to call for help. Then you are caught in the current and have to gather all your knowledge.
“It tricks the brain. Some people use that to overcome their fears. So this is a way to create as realistic an experience as possible without directly endangering anyone,” said Denis Wisner, a volunteer helping with virtual reality.
“We become desensitized when it comes to signs and information, so if we can give people something that really creates that repetition or that muscle memory, then they have a chance of survival when they go in the water,” said Kiwana Denison, Je’Sani’s mother and founder and president of the foundation.
The software was developed at Hofstra University, and thanks to support from the Port of Corpus Christi, the Je’Sani Smith Foundation was able to implement it as another tool to teach people to be conscious at the beach.
“I think it could be very useful from a fundamentals point of view, because of course most people I know grew up with parallel swimming, but that’s not all,” said Cantu Benware.
Another great achievement of the foundation is that every year they give a scholarship to students. This Friday they donated the largest amount they have ever donated, with 8 students each receiving a scholarship of $1,200.
- Abigail Elise Aguirre from Foy H. Moody High School attends the University of Texas at Austin
- Alysa Cantu Benware from Richard King High School attends the University of Texas at Austin
- Jazmin Taylor Flores of Tuloso-Midway High School attends Texas A&M University
- Julianna Lu Garcia of Tuloso-Midway High School attends the University of The Incarnate Word
- Marcus Garcia from Veterans Memorial visits the University of Houston
- Sarah Michelle Dupont of Bishop High School, attends the Texas A&M School of Public Health
- Cameron Cabrera from Veterans Memorial visits the University of Texas at Arlington
- Victoria Cantu, of John Paul II High School, attends Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
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