Heritage Night, an annual UPrep tradition, filled the ULab with food, music and presentations from the community. On Oct. 24, students, staff and families gathered from 5 to 7 p.m. engage and learn about the various roots representing everywhere from Korea to Latin America to India. For Director of DEIB Taylor Kanemori, that exchange of culture and curiosity is exactly the point: helping the community experience the world, starting with learning from one another.
Kanemori expressed her pride in the way the volunteers put together the event.
“It’s really exciting for our team to be able to create a space for folks to connect,” Kanemori said. “I’m always amazed by the performances of students, and I think all of them did so well. I’m never surprised, but it’s just a reminder of how talented so many of our students are.”
Among the performances was a mariachi band, a Vietnamese flute player and a K-pop Dancer. In addition to this, the DEIB Office purchased a wide variety of meals for a free buffet, including sandwiches, sesame balls and curry with rice.
For over an hour, students, parents and staff were free to walk around the ULab, learning about different cultures at stands set up by families and student groups, featuring foods like wontons, empanadas, bibimbap, chai, boba tea and mango lassies.
Sophomore Solomon Hwang shared his homemade Korean food with the community.
“I think my favorite part is seeing people and how happy they are when they try out our food,” Hwang said. “Our food is amazing. It is really amazing.”
Two workshops took place on the second floor of the ULab: an Israeli martial arts demonstration and an Indian dance class. The workshops were meant to allow people to engage in and be part of the culture.
The idea of sharing and bringing awareness of different cultures was common among volunteers. The event offered a place to highlight a piece of the UPrep community that is not as represented otherwise.
“I feel like [Vietnamese Culture] is not really shown much,” sophomre Jade Petroff said. “I wanted to represent it here.”
Eighth grader Seth Sharma loved sharing and exploring cultures across the community.
“A bunch of people are very welcoming, and everybody’s sharing,” Sharma said.
Junior Benjamin Gamez volunteered at the Latin Student Union tables.
“I think it’s really important now to have a group where everybody can connect with a similar culture, especially Latin culture. It’s an important topic,” Gamez said.
With the increase in detentions and deportations from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Gamez finds comfort in sharing his experiences.
“There are a lot of issues facing [Latin culture], and a group coming together to specifically address that and talk about it is very important,” Gamez said.
The LSU works to make presentations and spread word about immigrant rights.
“Those kinds of presentations are important to raise awareness,” Gamez said. “ [Immigration] is something that we touched on in our LSU groups, making sure that everybody understands the issue and wants to talk about it.”
Sophomore Jade Petroff performed a Vietnamese folk song called “Bèo dąt mây trôi.”
“It’s directly translated to drifting water ferns, floating clouds,” Petroff said. “It’s about the pain of separation and nostalgia.”
Petroff’s mother helped choose the song; it was sung to her as a child.
“I wanted to perform,” Petroff said. “But I really didn’t know any Vietnamese folk songs. So I asked her.”
