The Asian Students Association (ASA) seeks to bring students together through hands-on events, teaching the diverse cultures present within the Raleigh region. The culture-oriented student group, from collaborations with other clubs to various monthly events, is working to bring awareness of the variety of Asian cultures to NC State.
“We try to co-host events with every single club under the Asian multicultural banner,” said Xena Liu, a fourth-year studying animal science and zoology and ASA’s current president. “So far, we’ve worked with the Indian Students Club, Japan Club, the Korean Conversation Club, the Vietnamese Student Association, the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association and NC State’s Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. There are a lot of other organizations we work with, I think 12 in total. It’s the ASA’s job to bridge the gaps between them, to connect all of these clubs, so when our members come to ASA, they know they’re getting great exposure to different kinds of clubs.”
Everyone is welcome to join the ASA, as the group has no shortage of hospitality.
“I’ve been involved with the ASA since the beginning of this year,” said Shivani Amin, a fourth-year studying biological science and the ASA’s current secretary. “It’s really fun — the people are friendly [and] outgoing. They’ll make sure you fit in and do their best to accommodate you.”
The ASA holds one general board meeting per month, with additional meetings and events being held in collaboration with other groups on campus.
“Last year, we weren’t that big on working with other clubs,” Amin said. “This year, we’ve done a lot more events, at least two a month, and we also try to collaborate with a bunch of other Asian clubs.”
With the spring semester fast approaching, the ASA has big plans to do more collaborative events with groups from all across campus.
“We want to work more with different Asian clubs, and we encourage more Asian culture clubs to form,” Liu said. “Right now, we’re helping to form a new club, called the Filipino Students Association. Eventually, we’d like to have a club for every Asian country, if possible.”
These events are the heart of the club, which aims at bringing together students through cultural inclusivity, an idea Amin reinforces.
“The best moments from being a part of the ASA have been at the events, where I’m meeting new people and earning about new opportunities from outside of the community,” Amin said. “I’ve learned a bunch of new things, and I’ve grown in so many ways. We’ve gotten a lot of good responses from all of our events so far, and even though a few of them were new, we got a really good turnout, and all of them have been successes.”
Liu said one of the best parts about being involved with the ASA is seeing new faces, as the group is always happy to have new people join. Liu encourages students to come to their events as a way to take a break from the day-to-day drag of classes and projects. The group’s biggest event of the year is Asia Night. Held in the spring for the past several years, it presents NC State students with a celebration of many Asian cultures.
“My favorite moments in ASA have been hosting the Asia Night show,” Liu said. “I got to work with a lot of performers, the crew and the executive board. I was very happy to see everyone working together to put on something that is very big and representative of our culture, and is a way to show our culture to everyone on campus.”
Although this event does not have a set date yet, the ASA is excited for what this year’s Asia Night will have in store, as well as the countless other events they are developing for students as a way to share the wonder of their cultures to the NC State community and beyond.
