As the spring semester begins to kick into full swing, groups such as the Cultural Exchange Network have already planned a full slate of unique events and experiences for students.
The Cultural Exchange Network is a student organization here at NC State that seeks to encourage the sharing of cultures between students from a variety of different backgrounds.
“I got involved with the Cultural Exchange Network, or CENet, as we call it, my sophomore year during shack-a-thon, about two and a half years ago,” said Sam Lafell, a fourth-year studying communication and Spanish and the group’s current president. “As a group, we like to showcase cultures in a broad and general sense, and we try to accept everyone, include everyone [and] teach a little bit about everything so people can gain a bit of knowledge from everywhere.”
Although the group has been around for several years, it has only recently become a student-led club, piloted forward by a group of enthusiastic students.
“The Cultural Exchange Network has existed for about six or seven years, as an initiative by some faculty on Centennial campus to try and start connecting international students with domestic students,” Lafell said. “We hold events to encourage the active exchange of cultures, but we also like to make connections with the students in our group and make them feel at home.”
The Cultural Exchange Network has collaborated with a variety of other campus organizations over the course of its active time here at NC State, particularly with clubs centered on the variety of cultures represented here at the university.
“As a whole, we’re all striving to provide interactive opportunities for both international students as well as students that are from the US, and we’re trying to get cultural exchange started through events like language exchanges, speed friending, as well as general meetings,” said Marsai Miller, a third-year studying neurobiology and Spanish, who is currently on the leadership council of the Cultural Exchange Network.
The group is constantly brainstorming, planning and hosting events throughout the year, with each event highlighting a different culture.
“We also do language exchange events,” Lafell said. “Last semester, we did one where we had seven different languages represented in one room. We brought in speakers who had experience with each of the languages to present, and then we broke into smaller groups to talk in those languages, and to just teach a bit more about the languages.”
One of the many activities the group hosts, the language exchange event gives students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of languages all in one place.
“For the language exchanges, we get two rooms and push the tables together in them,” Miller said. “We have one section for Spanish, as well as one for German, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Persian, Mandarin and Korean. We try to broaden it to as many languages as we can have there. These areas allows the beginners, people who know nothing about it to have someone who knows the language well enough to speak it and teach it. It’s really a judgement free zone to practice your language skills, and to meet new people while doing it.”
Going forward, the Cultural Exchange Network hopes to broaden its reach to encompass even more cultures, and to work to share these cultures with the rest of NC State.
“This club has taught me that the world is a lot bigger than what I see,” Lafell said. “Coming into this position and interacting with these people has given me a large appreciation for that, and it’s definitely made me want to travel more [and] made me want to [experience] more outside of my own culture.”
The organization’s next regular meeting for members will be held on Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m., and will focus on the traditions and events surrounding the Chinese New Year. For more information, the group can be contacted through its profile on NC State’s Get Involved page, as well as the group profile on Facebook.
