BY RITEE KARMACHARYA
Asian American Club celebrated rice, one of the most imported good from Asia, on December 12 in their annual Rice Festival. The club came together to celebrate and share different preparations of the grain, a staple crop in Asian culture. An abundance of decorations, activities, and food helped create a fun environment for students who attended, and the club’s new strategies for fundraising helped run yet another successful event for the club.
The club’s decorating committee planned weeks ahead in preparation for the festival, including designing special banners and decorations. “We wanted to create banners that represent the different cultures in Asian American Club,” said co-decorating coordinator Rayanne Ebuen.
Along with decorations, members of the club also prepared dance performances for the event. Student-organized dance groups performed various types of Asian culture incorporated dances, featuring K-pop and Bollywood. “My team, led by Rafaella [Bagacay], performed a mashup of four k-pop songs, including ‘What is Love,’ ‘Psycho,’ ‘Left Right,’ and ‘Supershy,’” said dancer Adrianna Hui. “I was lucky enough to be performing with the K-POP team, and both of the Bollywood dances were awesome!”
Students also celebrated with Henna, traditional Asian skin art. “My favorite activity was definitely the henna station, everyone was having so much fun trying designs, and they even let us try to do some on our own,” said Raeva Parmar.
Members of the club volunteered to bring in many different kinds of Asian food for the event. The event included a variety of Asian rice, along with Asian snacks. “There was fried rice, chicken biryani, biko, kheer, and seaweed rice, but my favorite dish was the beef fried rice!” said co-decorating coordinator Tajnim Ahammed.
The board came up with a boba stand fundraiser, a new way of fundraising for the club. Their first trial, held on senior day, proved the fundraiser a success, and covered any funds necessary to run the Rice Festival and their prior event, Diwali. “Co-president Snigdha Kandula and I came up with a homemade recipe, bought the materials and ingredients, and put together the whole stand on the morning of Senior Day,” said co-president Rafaella Bagacay. “While I’d make the drinks as they were ordered, Snigdha did the money transactions, and Ray was great at serving the drinks.”
The club came together and put in hard work to create a successful event. All different kinds of students attended and tried new Asian food with friends. “Every aspect of the event was made from so much care and hard work,” said Hui.
Posted on 1/4/24
Photos by Ritee Karmacharya
Knight Life 