Violet Newton
The Asian American Association put on cAAArnival, a halloween themed carnival event on Kuhlman Court Oct. 19.
AAA’s seven umbrella organizations each had their own table with a different game for students to play at the event.
“We just really try to encourage everyone to go to all the under org events, so if you ever show up to an FSA meeting or a VSA meeting, not everyone there is going to be Filipino or Vietnamese,” AAA president Tanvi Kulkarni said. “So we’re just trying to increase awareness for that.”
The South Asian Students Association table held a bangle toss.
“It’s kind of a little spinoff from ring toss, but we’re playing with bangles and bangles originate from South Asia,” sophomore Aditi Yerrapu said. “They’re just traditional bracelets and so we thought it’d be a fun little cultural twist on the game.”
Other games included cornhole, picking up candy with chopsticks, mini golf, face painting and knocking down cans with a rubber band.
Each booth gave out tickets which could be used to purchase prizes, including hoodies, Lego sets and stuffed animals.
Students also showed up in costumes that ranged from a Buc-ee’s onesie to a Teletubbies suit for a chance to win the costume contest.
During her freshman year, junior Kayleigh Morrow was nervous about attending AAA events, but felt that everyone welcomed her. Now she is the president of the Filipino Student Association.
“I feel like I can see people, since the first event, they’re opening up, they’re making new friends, they’re building their own communities here in AAA, and I think it’s just really sweet to witness firsthand,” Morrow said.
For first-year attendee Khoi Quan, AAA has made him feel comfortable in his place on campus.
“Especially as someone who grew up in America for a long time, as an Asian American there’s two different standards in between American values and Asian values and AAA has taught me how Asian values are important to me,” Quan said.
In the spring, AAA puts on a similar event called Asian Night Market, giving students another chance to win prizes by playing games.
Edited by Maggie LeBeau | [email protected]
Copy edited by Braeden Perry and Emma Harper | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]