UW-Whitewater freshman draws smiles on campus

October 29, 2020

With Halloween only days away, you expect to see a Wookie or a Pikachu walking on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. Add to that an extraterrestrial skateboarding music-playing messenger of good will. He comes in peace — sometimes with candy.

That spacesuit-clad student is Sid Lara, a freshman from Crystal Lake, Illinois, who began venturing forth from his residence hall room as the space traveler “Astro” about a month ago. Astro has one mission — to draw a smile from everyone he meets.

“I was really bored one weekend,” recalls Lara, who had purchased the suit early for Halloween. “And I thought, ‘What if I just went out in the suit on a longboard and started playing music (from a smartphone)?’ People loved it a lot, so I kept doing it. I started giving out candy eventually.”

Lara said the white NASA-inspired coverall came from a costume shop, while the helmet with mirrored visor was a separate purchase, costing him $35. The people Lara met as Astro began asking to adorn the helmet with their signatures and art, and Astro obliged.

UW-Whitewater freshman Sid Lara as "Astro," whose helmet people ask to sign. He is shown outside the University Center on Tues. Oct. 27, 2020.

“I don’t really do this for anything (for myself),” said Lara, who is a business student. “I’m just doing it to make people’s day better. I’ve always wanted to do that. I want to do something in the future that makes people happy in some way.”

Lara remembers how it felt when he first tried out Astro in early October, heading out in costume on his longboard from his residence hall room to the University Bookstore and back again.

“It was a really short ride, but people were honking their horns, they were like waving at me,” he said. For Lara, Astro also has become one way of venturing forth as an independent spirit at college.

“College is a big place; it’s definitely not like high school,” he said. “In high school, everyone would know who I am. In college, there are so many more people that I don’t really care what people think. This is what’s fun to me, and as long as I’m having a good impact, that’s all that really matters.”

“If you step outside of your comfort zone just a little bit, you’d be surprised at what you can do,” he adds.

UW-Whitewater freshman Sid Lara makes sojourns as the character Astro on campus, walking or riding a longboard, sometimes giving out candy, and playing music from his smartphone. Astro's mission is to draw a smile from everyone he meets.

Each week, Lara tries to create time in his schedule for Astro — often late in the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on weekends — to wander campus, often around the residence halls. He hopes to continue brightening spirits into the semester.

“I do have something more festive (planned for November) for everyone to experience, so I’m looking forward to that,” he said.