Asian American Cultural Education Week brings learning experiences to USD

In the past two days, USD’s Asian American Students Association (AASA) hosted two events for Asian American Cultural Education Week with the goal to bring students together to learn more about Asian cultures.

“We’re just…celebrating Asian culture, because Asian culture often is misinterpreted as just being a stereotype,” AASA president Tommy Tran said. “So, with Asian American Education Week, we’re kind of showing people there’s more to Asian cultures than what they see in media.”

The first event, which was hosted on Wednesday, was a film called “Resilience.” The film is about a Korean adoptee who finds his birth mother after 30 years, and focused on the cultural barriers that separate them.

The event on Thursday was fortune cookie decorating, where students were able to decorate the 300+ cookies provided by the AASA.

Tran said the events were an important asset to USD not only in terms of showcasing diversity, but to also get allow students to know more about the organization.

“I feel like the Asian American students here are underappreciated (and) undermined,” Tran said. “Since a lot of the Asian American students are international, it’s harder for them to build a voice. That’s why we need to step up as the executive board… and let other students on campus know we’re here.”