In the center of the cafeteria, a small crowd stood, holding paper plates of food from different cultures and dice to various games. Posters laid on the tables with information about the cultures each table represented, and laughter and conversation filled the air.
On Jan. 22, the multicultural club hosted an event to share the traditions for different cultures’ celebrations for the New Years’, with food and games. One club member, senior Citlali Lara, said she thought the event was a success.
“I think the event was rather successful because it was the second version that we had of that, going from the Holidays Around the World to the New Year’s Around the World,” Lara said. “I thought it was sweet looking at all the cultures, especially with the events and stuff like that, and just the feeling of counting on each other to bring upon a new event was pretty awesome.”
Unlike the holidays event, this event had activities, which junior Vivienne Lieu said contributed to its success.
“I think it was a lot more activities-based and people actually got to learn more about the cultures, instead of bringing just food like we usually do,” Lieu said. “By bringing the activities, I think everyone had a better idea of each culture that was there, and that was really helpful for our club, because that’s what we always aim to do.”
There were a handful of countries represented, including Italy, Spain, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico and America. Junior Nivek Solis said she learned a lot from the event.
“There was a bunch of people that showed up, we were able to learn about different cultures, like I learned a lot about Brazil’s culture, I learned a lot about Viet [culture],” Solis said. “It was just really cool to see everyone coming together, we all just hang out together and have a good time.”
While the event was mostly members of the club, volunteers from National Honor Society showed up and helped put the event on. One NHS member, senior Melanie Hernandez, said she enjoyed getting to volunteer for the club.
“It was actually pretty fun, it was like a hangout event so I felt like I got a lot closer with so many people there, especially when it was revolving around different cultures,” Hernandez said. “Since my friends are also from different cultures, I felt like it was really an open-mind experience.“
While the event was a success in the club’s eyes, some members said they wished more people showed up.
“I feel like we could have announced the event more and made it more open to the community because that’s what we stand for [as] the multicultural club,” Lara said. “We need more people, more members of the community to feel represented and to just participate.”
Lara said she had strong hopes for the underclassmen of the club to continue to improve, and spread the message the club conveyed to her.
“It doesn’t matter what race or culture or background we are,” Lara said. “We all deserve an education and we all deserve to speak out.”
