Cerritos College hosted an Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) awareness workshop to educate students about APIDA heritage and promote cultural understanding on April 28 at the MESA Center in the library from 4 to 6 p.m.
The workshop kicked off APIDA Awareness Week, which runs through May 1. Activities throughout the week were organized by Lynn Wang, a financial aid counselor and chair of the APIDA Committee, along with other campus contributors.
The atmosphere at the event was relaxed, with soft music playing as students mingled and sampled traditional foods such as samosas, chow mein and other cultural dishes – drinks included grass jelly, Hong Kong lemon tea and water.
“There was good food. I hate carbs, but I loved the chow mein,” said Alcapone Alo, a paralegal major. He added while laughing, that he would have liked to see more fruits and vegetables offered.
“I think our campus is lucky. We have a lot of students and staff from different cultures, but I think it’s important to be diverse,” Wang said.
Attendees also participated in traditional games, including bầu cua, played with candy instead of money, Mahjong and Ddakji, a Korean game popularized by the Netflix series “Squid Game.”
The Associated Students of Cerritos College President Ashley Yim helped organize the event and said the environment was “Chill and comforting.” Her favorite dish was the samosas.
“There was actually a good turnout,” Yim said, “There were so many people here.”
The Student Trustee Cathy Le also helped organize the event and said she hopes events like these create more visibility for underrepresented groups on campus.
“There’s not really much representation for our APIDA group,” Le said, “Having a week is not enough – maybe more events on campus would help.”
Le added that although they always want more people to show up for events, the amount of people that came was reasonable.
Wang, a Cerritos College alumna, reflected on how far the college has come in celebrating Asian heritage.
“I grew up in this community and I came to school here,” she said. “When I was a student, these activities weren’t always available. Back then, ‘Asian Week’ meant serving Panda Express.”
Wang also expressed concern about a lack of engagement from the APIDA community on campus.
“I don’t understand why Asian people don’t come out and support Asian events,” she said, “I see that a lot with other groups – Black folks show up for Black History Month, Latinx students support cultural events. I’m just puzzled why Asian faculty, staff and students don’t come out in the same way.”
The event drew a steady flow of attendees during its two-hour window, with more than 20 people in the room at any given time. Held in a space no larger than a standard classroom, the workshop saw more than 40 participants in total as students came and went.
More APIDA events are expected next semester, with Lynn Wang continuing to lead organizing efforts.
